Two Sides to Every Story
by siriuslymest
Summary: The two sides to this story: Lily Evans- Prefect, good girl and slight control freak vs James Potter- Marauder, outstanding troublemaker and Quidditch freak. The clash: James is crazy over Lily and wants to date her, but Lily hates James... or does she?
1. Surprises

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

_**Part I **_

_**Thrill of the Chase**_

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the famous characters or the world of Harry Potter. I'm _borrowing_ them from JKR's fabulous writing. I just own the characters you've never heard of and the ideas. ;P

A/N: OK, third time's a charm right? I was extremely unhappy with this chapter and I cringe everytime I read it. I don't know what possessed me to write such a horrible chapter, but I have long since changed, I was sixteen when I wrote it and now I am legal :P So... I removed quite a bit of things, added in some other things and well, here's the end product. We'll see how long I'm satisfied with this chapter.

I still want to state this is my first fanfic ever. Although I love reviews, I will try not to depend too much on them, but if there are suggestions and constructive criticism, I will bear them in mind. Still that special thanks to fate's fallen angel because she was my first reviewer ever :D

---

**Chapter 1 _Surprises_**

Lily Evans sat in the compartment of the Hogwarts Express, engrossed in a game of Wizard's Chess with her best friend Ashlynn Keovanh, ready for her sixth year at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A shiny prefects badge was pinned neatly to the front of her clothes. Needless to say, the game of Wizard's Chess was incredibly intense, and included both girls staring at the board for minutes at a time before making a move.

"This is BORING!" Latisha Williams yawned, looking up from the Quidditch book she was reading and surveying the two concentrated girls with disgust.

"It's only been twenty minutes since we left the station," Lily laughed, eyes still glued onto the board. Julie Clarke, Lily's other best friend was absorbed by the current trends in robes from the popular teen magazine, Bewitched.

The silence in the compartment hung like a cloud of fog. The only sounds at the moment was the loud chatter coming from outside the compartment and the movements of students walking along the train as they tried to settle in. Lily's almond shaped green eyes were narrowed as she tried to read her opponent's next move. Ashlynn's oriental features were twisted as she contemplated what to do next.

Lily's concentration was broken as the compartment door slid open hastily, revealing four boys, all jostling to stand in the doorway. All four girls looked up and Lily's face promptly changed from peaceful happiness to utter loathing.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to go _in_ the _compartment_‚" a muffled voice from the back squeaked. "You know, instead of standing _in_ the _doorway_."

"Right you are Peter," a good looking boy with dark hair agreed, pushing the two in front of him into the compartment, one with wild black hair and glasses, and the other with sandy blonde hair.

"Evans," the boy with wild black hair spat as a greeting of some sort.

Lily nodded curtly. "Potter."

The other two boys from behind had slipped into the compartment now, the smaller one of them giving a quick wave while the other grinned and nodded maniacally at them to acknowledge their presence. He kind of faltered when he noticed a new face he had never seen before though. The others seemed to take no notice to this fact.

Lily looked up from the game of Wizard's Chess, clearly annoyed as the boys clambered around the compartment and made themselves comfortable. And clearly, eight people in one compartment would not be as comfortable as four.

"To what do we owe the honour, Potter?" Lily said, each word laced with venom. "I don't recall us departing fifth year on friendly terms."

They indeed had not. It included the Leaving Feast in which Lily had dumped a large bowl of spaghetti over James Potter's head at his last attempt of the year to ask Lily out.

"Ah, Lily," the boy with sandy blonde hair interrupted politely. "I was just sent to get you, prefects are suppose to meet in the reserved compartment up front for the beginning of the ride. I expect duties are going to be explained to us."

Lily stared at the boy in disbelief. Remus Lupin, a close friend who hung out with this trouble making bunch, a _prefect_! After she got over her moment of initial shock she finally spluttered, "L-Lupin‚ you're a prefect!" The thought certainly _outraged_ Lily...

"Yes," the boy said cheerfully, seeming to enjoy the reaction he was getting.

"What's so hard to believe about Remmy here being a prefect now, Lily?" the boy who pushed the two into the compartment said, still glancing at Ashlynn, the face he had not recognized and was still trying to put a name to. "I don't believe we've met?" he asked charmingly, to glares from Lily.

"No, we haven't," Ashlynn said with a small smile. "I'm Ashlynn."

"Sirius Black," the handsome boy replied, giving her a smile that was known to melt half the girls of the Hogwarts population. He also noticed her strange accent, slow and emphasizing. So she wasn't from around here...

All the attention in the compartment was now directed onto Ashlynn and now it seemed that yes, it was pretty obvious someone new to Hogwarts was present. Ashlynn seemed to shrink upon the attention suddenly thrown upon her and she blinked.

She was saved from the curious looks from the others as a loud resounding BANG echoed through the train, followed by shrieks and then bouts of laughter. Lily looked wildly about, trying to figure out what the source of the noise was without having to move through the maze of seven people. The boys had hastily jumped into _their_ compartment, as if trying to make a getaway. They had all remained unmoved and uncurious of the loud bang. The smirks on the faces of James Potter and Sirius Black immediately told Lily what had happened.

_They couldn't have possibly... Not so early into the school year..._

"You didn't..." Lily trailed off. Her eyes narrowed at Remus, who was busying himself by trying to talk to Peter.

Lily flew to the compartment door, careful not to tread on anyone's fingers or feet, which proved to be quite difficult considering the compartment was crammed. She poked her head outside and saw the object of commotion. Severus Snape was storming in the other direction, smoke billowing from his robes and his hair slightly singed.

"Potter!" Lily immediately shouted. "What did you do?"

James' merely shurgged, not seeming to care at all.

"Was he a part of it?" Lily asked, pointing at Remus, although she already knew the answer. The Marauders were usually always together.

James' shrugged again which flared Lily's already rising temper even more so that she wanted to scream.

"Get out, all of you!" She proceeded over to Sirius Black, who was closest to her and flirting with Ashlynn shamelessly. She grabbed him by the shirt and attempted to throw him out of the compartment. Remus was already striding for the compartment door while James sat defiantly beside Latisha.

"Do you not understand English Potter? I'm sorry, I don't speak troll! Get out!"

Remus, at this point, was attempting to get Lily's attention, who was carelessly waving around her wand out of her anger. He cleared his throat loudly and Lily whirled around to face him, her green eyes flashing.

""I really hate to interrupt Lily, but we _are_ wanted up at the front," he replied, a more harsh tone apparent in his voice.

Lily seemed to compose herself at the remembrance that she was indeed a prefect and Remus was also _indeed_ a prefect, and they undoubtedly would be working together for the school year. She was torn between going up to the front for her prefect duties and wiping the smirk off of Potter's face. She settled for the option of prefect duties, in which it would build up her reputation more, and in a swish of robes, both Lily and Remus were gone.

---

"I still can't believe that after all summer Lily Evans is still so hard headed," James Potter sighed as he plopped down onto his dorm bed. "She could have been a bit more civil to me. We are starting sixth year, after all."

By now, rain was violently lashing upon the windows of their dorm room, even worse than when it was during the Feast. It seemed to match James' gloomy mood and he rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, exasperated.

Sirius was trying to contain his laughter. _"I'm sorry, I don't speak troll,"_ he mocked in a high pitched voice. "That girl is certainly something." He shook his head. "Anyways mate, all you said when you saw her was _'Evans'_ in a more than friendly voice. What's she s'ppose to say, '_Jamesie how was your summer? I missed you so much. Maybe now after the forty hundredth time you've asked me out, I'll finally say Yes James Potter, I'll go out with you.'_ Honestly, even after last year's events. Plus, you played a prank on Snape, and we all know what dear Evans thinks of that."

"_I_ played a prank on Snape? _You_ played a prank on Snape!" James said accusingly.

"You helped me, did you not?" Sirius replied indignantly. "But I don't mind taking the credit, if that's what you mean. However, in Evans' eyes, you are just to blame, if not more, than I am, because you're the one also known to hex her too."

Remus shook his head, smiling, as he unpacked his things. "He does have a point Prongs."

"I wasn't asking for points," James said huffily.

"Maybe if you were a bit nicer," Peter suggested.

"I AM NICE!" James shouted. "She's just so stubborn. And those were only fun, joking hexes. They didn't do any harm to her."

"Only her pride," Sirius mumbled.

"I mean, I've offered to walk her here and there-"

"-After insulting and hexing her," Peter added.

"-and I have asked her out a few times-"

"Few hundred times," Sirius snorted. "And besides, it's all about the essence of the timing. The mood has to be just right before you pop the question."

"You guys really aren't helping!" James yelled, frustrated and glaring at Sirius.

"What are friends for," Sirius smirked. "To tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear."

"Shut it Padfoot." With that James threw a pillow at Sirius, knocking him off his bed in the process.

---

Lily and Julie returned to the common room after the last class of the day. She was glad and relieved that Ashlynn had been sorted into Gryffindor. Almost immediately, Lily piled her homework into her bag, already feeling overwhelmed by the amount they had received just on their first day. She was already struggling with Transfiguration, her worst subject, yet she had no problems with Charms, her best and favourite subject. Lily knew that NEWTS were next year and that this homework would probably benefit her in some way, but that did not mean that the teachers all had to assign tedious homework assignments. She gave Julie an apologetic smile and picked up her bag, hauling it onto her shoulders.

"You're already diving into homework?" Julie asked incredulously.

Lily nodded. It was a long shot, but she decided to ask anyways. "Did you want to come?"

"No, I'm suppose to be hanging out with Chloe, Echo and Myriah later."

Julie watched as Lily furrowed her eyebrows at the idea of her hanging out with a few girls that did not exactly get along with Lily. And weren't exactly friendly either.

"They're not as bad as you think they are." Julie shrugged, smiling. "And it's not like I have anything to do anyways. You know I hate the prospect of homework. The longer I can avoid it, the better. I'll talk to you later."

Lily watched, a bit dejected, as Julie disappeared out of the portrait hole. She then grabbed her ink and parchment, throwing them quickly into her bag. By the time she was out of the portrait hole, Julie was already gone. A bit baffled as to how she could have disappeared so quickly, Lily continued down to the library. Along the way she glanced out of a window and spotted a familiar figure out on the school grounds. Frowning, Lily changed her course and headed outside instead.

Lily pushed open the door to the school grounds and was met by the crisp outdoors. It was becoming just a tad chilly, but it was still warm. Lily had lost sight of the figure but then noticed her disappearing along the corner to the Quidditch pitch. Lily jogged over to the figure and stopped, catching her breath.

"Ashlynn? What are you... doing... here?" Lily panted.

Ashlynn laughed. "I bumped into Latisha and she said she would show me where the library was after she showed me the Quidditch pitch. She found out I use to play chaser," Ashlynn admitted reluctantly.

Ashlynn looked up and Lily turned around, just noticing that Latisha was up in the air, flying her MeteorShower. She then noticed that there were quite a bit of people out by the Quidditch pitch. And more suspiciously, the Marauders grouped together and pointing their wands at someone also flying in the air. Lily recognized the person in the air to be no other than Snape, and if there were Marauders where there was Snape, there was bound to be problems not too far behind.

"Aww, look at greasy old Snivelly‚ he wants to be a Quidditch player!" The drawling voice of Sirius Black floated across the Quidditch pitch and Lily watched them closely.

"A wannabe Quidditch player," James laughed. Sirius laughed with him.

"I guess with talents like his it would be a prize to the Slytherin Quidditch team."

Severus Snape ignored these comments and continued flying, as if he never noticed the Marauders were down there making fun of him. He also never noticed that Sirius had now raised his wand, or else Snape would never have turned his back to him.

"Let's make this a bit more interesting, shall we?" Sirius whispered maliciously.

Sirius flicked his wand and soon Snape's broom was out of control. They watched as Snape's broom reeled backwards, than shot forwards, then spun around, as if he was on a wild bull. It continued doing a series of dangerous stunts, responding to the waves of Sirius' wand. Sirius lowered his wand but then James lifted up his. The broom then turned upside down and Snape hung on for dear life, the rush of blood turning his usual pale face beat red. His robes hung down, revealing his long and skinny legs. He was so out of breath he didn't even have enough to string together a pile of insults to throw at the Marauders, who were laughing hysterically. Well, James and Sirius were laughing hysterically. Peter just looked amused. And Remus-

Lily couldn't believe it. Remus was there all right, his whole prefect self, yet he did not turn or even bat an eyelash to the horrible pranks of his fellow Marauders. He did not even make an effort to stop it, he just sat among the bleachers, reading a book. His whole face was devoid of any emotion, he wasn't laughing or surveying the scene with amusement. But he wasn't frowning or angry either. After a few more moments of watching the scene (although Lily had to admit that the panicked look on Snape's face was a bit amusing), she stormed towards the Marauders, anger burning in her eyes.

"Uh oh," Latisha mumbled in dread, now landed safely on the ground and watching the scene unfold before her. "This is not going to go over too well." She hurried after Lily, Ashlynn at her heels.

Lily reached the Marauders, but she was so angry that she was at a loss for words. She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it, then shut it again. It gave her the effect of a gaping goldfish.

"Problem, Evans? Cat got your tongue?" James taunted, glancing up at Snape with a smirk.

"Put him down this instance Potter!" Lily yelled. "You have no right to do this! When are you going to grow up!"

James said nothing to this, he just stared up at Snape indifferently. After Lily realized that she was getting no reaction, she turned her attention upon Remus, who had stopped reading but was still holding his book.

"And you!" Lily pointed a finger at Remus. "Have you no responsibilities? Have you no conscience? They're your friends, you should stop them! You're a prefect Remus, maybe you should start acting like one!"

"I tried, I did not succeed, now you try," Remus replied, calmly and indifferently.

"You should have tried harder! I knew it was a mistake for Professor Dumbledore to choose you as a prefect! You'll let your friends get away with everything! It's as clear as day you're not meant for the job," Lily hissed angrily.

Remus looked at her intently, his eyes boring into hers. If it was any other situation, Lily would have felt extremely nervous. But her temper was riled up and she would not back down. They both stared at each other until Remus looked away from the stare down. Lily had not noticed but James was slightly shaking with anger and his wand, still pointing at Snape, was quivering. She turned to James.

"James Potter!" Lily yelled, louder this time, if it was possible. "Did you hear me? Put him down now. As prefect, I am ordering you to stop. James! Put him down now! You're always bothering Snape, he did nothing to you! Nothing! Don't give me that rubbish 'It's more the fact that he exists' talk. You think it makes you bigshot but it doesn't. Sirius shut up!"

Sirius was doubled over in laughing hysterics. He stopped and straightened up when he heard the angry tone in Lily's voice and his face went serious, although the mischievous gleam and laughter were still present in his eyes.

"And Remus. I thought better of you. It makes me sick."

Lily made a move towards James' wand, which he evaded. She then pulled out her own wand and pointed it at Snape, lowering him to the ground herself. Snape landed and tottered to his feet, obviously dizzy from being held upside down for so long. They watched as the red in his face lessened, but not by much. He was boiling over in anger. Snape turned to the group, a venomous look on his face.

"I don't need your help, ever, Mudblood," he choked out before hurrying out of view. Lily looked a bit disappointed at the thanks she got. Not putting much thought to it, she rounded on James, anger still apparent in her green eyes.

James had remained silent and even let her release Snape without so much as a struggle. And he still wasn't saying anything. He glared at her, his fists clenched.

"Lily Evans, what gives you the right to decide who is meant to be prefect and who isn't?" James asked in a dangerously low voice. "I know I let you get away with insulting me, but don't you ever insult my friends."

Lily was, once again, at a loss for words. She had expected James to start yelling, cursing, hexing her even, but nothing had prepared her for this remark about his friends.

"Remus has just as much right and displays just as much qualities like you which favour him to be a prefect. Don't try to lower his position." Remus opened his mouth as if to interrupt James, but James silenced him, staring hard at Lily, who still said nothing. His eyes flickered over to Latisha, and then Ashlynn, before he spoke again.

"You just interrupted us in one of our Snape pranks. No one ever interrupts any of our pranks. I have you know that if you want to get involved in our pranks as much as you just did, then you will. I don't care that you're a prefect, you're gonna wish you never messed with us. Your job is going to be a living hell."

With that, he turned on his heel and stalked away, without so much as a backward glance, Peter at his heels. Sirius looked confused a bit and Remus gave them a very slight smile before he also turned away to catch up with James. After all Lily had said, he did not seem the least bit offended or perturbed. He didn't even act rudely towards Lily. Remus was just... Remus. Lily just stared after them. James Potter had surprised her. She did not expect him to be so calm or to say what he said. She stole a glance at her friends. Latisha looked like Christmas had been cancelled and Ashlynn had her brow furrowed, trying to make sense of what happened.

"Well," Ashlynn began mildly. "What just happened there?"

Lily turned around abruptly. "Forget it."

"This is not good," Latisha went on. "Lily, did you have to stop them like that?"

"Did you know of any other way to stop them? If you did, suggestions would've been nice. Who's side are you on anyways?"

"No one's," Latisha answered quickly. "It's just that James _threatened_ you. And he looked so angry."

"You sound like part of his fan club."

"WHAT!" Latisha exclaimed, offended at the mere suggestion. "I would never. How could you say something so crazy?"

Lily shrugged while Ashlynn looked wildly about, trying to put together the pieces and decipher the situation they were in. Why did they talk so highly of him?

"I'm not afraid of James Potter," Lily replied bitterly. "He can do whatever he wants. I won't back down. Not this time. In fact, I'll give him a run for his money."


	2. The Prank Competition

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

**_Part I Thrill of the Chase_**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the famous characters or the world of Harry Potter. I'm _borrowing_ them from JKR's fabulous writing. I just own the characters you've never heard of and the ideas. ;P

A/N: Prologue in chapter one - check that out if you haven't. I've checked this chapter over, checked the storyline, checked everything there is to check (I probably still missed something though) and this chapter seems fine the way it is. This chapter has nothing new in it so proceed on, doing something worth your time if you've already read this, or if you haven't, you're more than welcome to read. I'm sorry for the delay, I'm back, it hasn't been a month, so my promise is still worthwhile ;P I apologize again for the people who are waiting for _new_ material and _advances_ into the plotline (as in a new _chapter_, eh hem chapter 8, which was where I left off _before_ revisions occured). Soon, very soon. Just hang in there. I'm expecting it to be somewhat smooth sailing, with only time as my enemy. Oh yeah.... REVIEW (if you haven't).

**Chapter 2 _The Prank Competition _**

"I dislike James Potter very, very much right now. More so than usual!" Lily yelled frustrated as they flew into their dorm room one by one.

"Who exactly are those guys?" Ashlynn asked curiously, thinking back to the crazy event. "They're unlike so many of the guys I've ever met."

"You don't want to meet these guys," Lily warned. "They're awful creatures."

"The one guy seems nice enough. He actually talked to me." Ashlynn was not the greatest at making friends, she wasn't really the type to talk to people first. Lily thought that it was more of her insecurity and what she thought people would think of her that held her back from making the first move. Although she couldn't see why. Ashlynn was nice and pretty, with thick, long raven black hair past her mid-back and dark almond shaped mysterious eyes. Her olive skin was usually tan and sun-kissed.

"Who?" Lily and Latisha both raised their eyebrows menacingly.

"Ummm..." Ashlynn stood on one foot, trying to remember his name. "Sirius is it?"

"Black?" Lily spat out. "Stay away from him. Stay away from ALL of them."

Ashlynn shrugged. "Can't you tell me a bit more about them?" she begged.

Lily took a deep breath. "You're gonna be scarred for life." Lily thought about it for a moment, and then gave in. "Fine, let's start with the best of them, James Potter, the ringleader, the oh-so-mighty-I'm-smart-and-you're-not-the-girls-worship-the-ground-I-walk-on prat. The loser who thinks that his pranks are funny and that he's the greatest guy on the planet. The ego-balistic one. Just stay away from him."

Latisha had to hold in her laughter at the way Lily was describing James Potter. "Oh Lily," she sang sweetly. "I think you're leaving out a very important detail about James."

Lily tried to look confused, but failed.

"Concerning you."

Lily blinked, still feigning confusion.

"Well James li-" Latisha began.

Lily clapped her hand over Latisha's mouth, trying to shut her up. She removed her hand cautiously and glared at her. Latisha remained silent, a great feat due to her outgoing and spontaneous nature, but had a knowing smirk across her face. Latisha was also really pretty. She was tall and slender, with legs that seemed to go on forever. Her caramel skin gleamed against the candlelight of the dorm room and her dark eyes twinkled threateningly.

Lily sighed, giving in. "James won't leave me alone."

"He likes her!" Latisha shrieked childishly, pulling back her dark, wavy hair. "James Potter likes Lily Evans!"

Lily buried her head under her covers. "No he doesn't! He hates me, can't you tell?"

"No he doesn't. For the longest time he's been asking Lily out," Latisha filled in.

"That's because he knows it annoys me."

"Sure, think what you want," Latisha commented snidely.

Ashlynn now had a knowing smile on her face and Lily glared at her. "Don't tell me you agree with her!" Lily exclaimed in horror.

"I didn't say anything. No comment."

"Let's just drop it," Lily said crossly, her temper beginning to rise. "I dislike James Potter very much. He is an immature prat. End of story."

"The others?" Ashlynn asked curiously.

"Sirius Black. He's just as bad if not worse than James. He's known for his notorious dating background. Boy, does he play the field. If James pranks are bad, his are WORSE. And together they are AWFUL. Sirius doesn't bother me as much. But he sure as hell is annoying and doesn't know when to quit. Stay away from him too."

"But him and James are great Quidditch players," Latisha added. "They're extremely good. Very talented. James plays chaser and Sirius plays beater. And might I add, James is a really good Quidditch captain, it's no wonder he's already one in his sixth year. He's very-"

"Continuing on," Lily interrupted. "Remus Lupin. He's not as bad as Potter and Black, but that doesn't mean he's friendly either. He's the more sensible one of the group, if that's possible. Stay away from him. And lastly, Peter Pettigrew. I don't know much about him, just that he's always with them and will play pranks with them, though not on his own. He's the most tolerable one of the group, mainly because he doesn't say much. Nevertheless, stay away from him too. In fact," Lily thought about it for split second, "Stay away from all of them."

"And together they are some of the most eligible bachelors of the school," Latisha remarked, digging around in her trunk for a quill, ignoring Lily's advice. "Half the girls of this school worship them, literally. They're known for their pranks and good looks. But of course there's some other boys who are just as good, if not better, than them."

"Half the girls of this school are blind," Lily mumbled underneath her breath.

"They're really not THAT bad," Latisha smiled. "Lily makes them sound like monsters."

"They are," Lily howled.

"Interesting," Ashlynn nodded, smiling slightly.

---

Ashlynn got to see much of what Lily and Latisha meant the next morning as they watched the Marauders trudge in to breakfast. Most of the girls were silently watching them from every table, swooning. They seemed oblivious to this fact and didn't do anything to acknowledge it, except for Sirius, who was blowing kisses left, right and center. They sat down to breakfast, James glaring swiftly at Lily before he did so. Lily glared back. She wasn't going to have her breakfast ruined just because of some group of ego-balistic guys with a club of blind admirers.

After scowling at the whole lot of them, Lily turned back to her food and resumed eating. She piled a few more pancakes onto her plate and looked around the table, trying to find the bottle of syrup.

"Ashlynn, pass me the bottle of syrup, would you?"

Ashlynn distractedly passed her the bottle of syrup, staring out into space while eating her cereal. Latisha was grumbling under her breath about getting up so early (again, and probably will again and again).

"Where were you all night Julie?" Lily asked, holding the bottle of syrup in her hand while glancing over at her.

But before Julie could answer, the doings of James Potter had kicked in. The bottle of syrup in Lily's hand expanded and before Lily had the chance to register what was happening, the almost full bottle exploded, squirting syrup in all directions and showering her and her friends in syrup. Lily stared, her mouth open, at the syrup oozing down her hands and where the bottle had been. She was drenched in syrup. It was all over her clothes, all down her front, and all in her hair. She looked at her friends. Latisha was now wide awake and wiping syrup off her face disgustedly, Julie looked too shocked for words and Ashlynn had snapped back to reality, pushing her bowl of now syrup away from her.

Other students around her had got a bit of the syrup shower, but not the full blow like her and her friends. They stared at Lily, her mouth still open.

"I can't- for Merlin's sake!" Lily banged her fists on the table as she stood up, glaring at the Marauders. James was smiling sweetly and Sirius was once again in laughing hysterics. Remus continued eating his breakfast as if nothing happened and Peter stared at the scene in amusement.

"Potter!" Lily screamed, pointing her finger at James, tissue paper sticking to her hands from when she had banged them onto the table. She furiously tried to rip the paper from her hands, only to have them stick to her fingers. Fuming, she swung her legs over the bench and stride up to James, who was looking up at her innocently.

"You wanted to get involved in our pranks, as you displayed with Snape last night," James said sweetly. "Now you are."

"You! Are the most big headed prat in the entire universe! Argh!"

"Go on Lily. I can stop it all if-"

Lily stared at him in horror, hoping he wouldn't dare say it.

"-If you go out with me."

"No, no, no! What makes you think I'll change my mind after all these years, after all the times you've asked me? No Potter, get it through your thick skull! I will not and will never go out with you."

"Never say never," James replied, turning back to his food, shrugging. "Suit yourself. This is only the beginning. Until you go out with me of course."

Lily stared down at James, furious. She was not going to let him get away with this. She was not going to be made a fool in front of the school. Because she was a _prefect_. _She was the one in control_. And like she promised, she was going to give James Potter a run for his money.

"You're right James," she said sweetly, bending down a little so she was right by his ear. "This is only the beginning." With that, she took her syrupy hands and smothered them all over James' face before turning and stalking out of the Great Hall.

James stared after her, amazed. "She didn't-"

"Just wipe syrup all over your face? Yup, she did," Sirius laughed, pointing at his friend.

"Shut up Sirius!" James then quieted, thinking to himself. He absently picked up a napkin, wiping off his face. He didn't notice the bits of tissue sticking to his face as he lowered the napkin.

'So she wants to have fun, does she? I know a competition when I see one.'

---

Lily was in a horribly quiet mood all day. James and his fellow Marauders had not played any pranks on her during the day, but she doubted that was where it ended. She was going to fight fire with fire. She didn't know how good her pranking skills were, but as long as she embarrassed James Potter and his friends she didn't care. But she was prefect. She didn't want to risk that title just to get even with Potter. Unless...

"Guys, I have a huge favour to ask you," Lily asked out of nowhere. They were sitting at a table in the common room, deeply engrossed in doing homework. Her friends looked up at her.

"I'm afraid," Latisha mumbled.

"I want to get even with Potter."

Julie raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"Will you guys help me?"

"Do what?" Latisha asked.

"If Potter wants to play pranks on us, I say we should play them right back."

"No!" Julie said in horror. "Look, I don't want to get involved in this. Especially not with James and his friends. You know they're like the masters of pranks."

"Just give them a little competition," Lily replied, a bit disappointed at Julie's reaction.

"This is a competition we'll lose," Julie remarked, thinking logically. "Just let it go Lily."

"I won't." _'Because I'm the one in control...'_

"A prank competition huh?" Latisha commented, not forgetting her syrup shower that morning. "Yeah, count me in."

"Me too," Ashlynn smiled mischievously. "Sounds like fun."

"No way guys!" Julie exclaimed in horror. "You're just going to get yourselves embarrassed even more! We're talking James Potter and Sirius Black."

"Why do you care, if you're not helping?" Latisha asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"It's just, I don't want my reputation ruined!"

"What?!" Lily asked incredulously. "What do you mean ruined?"

"I'm just not seeing eye to eye on this prank competition thing," Julie said. "I think I better go." She got up, her honey blonde hair swishing as she gathered her things. "When this all blows over, then let me know."

Lily stared after her best friend. "Julie! Won't you help? Even a little bit?"

Julie stopped, halfway across the common room, listening to her friend's pleas.

"Fine," she gave in, her beautiful blue eyes narrowing. "I'll help give you ideas. But I'm not performing them."

"You're awesome!" Lily got up and hugged her friend happily.

James Potter was going to get a run for his money alright...

---

"Can you believe Evans did that to me?" James asked in disbelief. "I can't believe it."

"It was priceless," Sirius roared in laughter. "You should have seen the look on your face."

"It was rather funny," Remus added, smiling.

"It was a shocker," Sirius mumbled incoherently, due to the fact that he was laughing so hard. "I'm going to have to keep a mental picture."

Peter shook his head, laughing at his friends. "You are getting quite mean to Evans, James. I thought you liked her."

James silenced. _'Me too. But there comes a time when you get a bit frustrated. Even James Potter has a limit to what he can take.'_

"So?" James retorted, hoping it sounded like he didn't care at all. "She deserves it. She has the nerve to insult my friends. AND she won't go out with me."

"What are you going to do to her tomorrow?" Peter asked.

James shrugged.

"I've got just the idea," Sirius said excitedly. "Just wait until tomorrow morning."

"Why play the pranks in the morning?" Peter asked, flipping through a herbology textbook and furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

"Because that's when the whole school sees," James answered, smirking.

---

Almost the entire population of Hogwarts had witnessed the amazing moment when Lily Evans had smothered syrup all over James Potter's face and were waiting for a great show that morning. The Great Hall was full of talk but when the Marauders sauntered in for breakfast, the talking ceased and was down to a minimal. The Marauder's took their place at the table and everyone waited for the show to begin.

A few moments after the Marauder's came in, Lily and her friends entered. Since they were running late, all four girls were hungry and were in a hurry to be seated. But as they lowered themselves onto the bench, they missed and plopped, at the exact same time, on the floor, making a gigantic _thud_ that echoed through the hall. The red and white cloth sitting on the table was pulled off as Lily had instinctually reached for it as she realized she was going to miss the bench. The food and plates toppled on to Lily and Ashlynn, causing the students in the Great Hall to turn and stare. On the other side Julie had ended up falling on top of Latisha and both were sprawled on the floor. Latisha's friend, Morgan, who was already seated on the bench next to her, received a great whack on the face as Latisha's arms flailed when she fell backwards.

Blushing madly, the girls hurried to seat themselves again, only to find that they missed the benches once again and once again fell on the floor. James and Sirius were laughing, it was clear that they had made their benches disappear when they had went to sit down, making them look like fools. The girls cautiously looked at each other and after they were sure the bench was not going to disappear on them they sat down slowly, their faces flaming.

Julie looked like her worst nightmare had come true. She had not expected to be pranked herself. Latisha was mumbling under her breath about how her ass was sore. Lily said nothing, she wasn't going to show any reaction whatsoever. She was going to take what Potter was giving her without complaining.

Ashlynn was the first to recover and silently whispered a charm, flicking her wand as she watched James and Sirius toast their goblet of pumpkin juice to each other for the successful prank. The goblets disappeared and they both socked each other in the face, pumpkin juice spilt all over their robes, making it look like they wet themselves.

"What the-" James broke off, standing up and glaring at the girls direction.

Lily caught Ashlynn's eye and they both smiled. It wasn't nearly as embarrassing or clever as the prank the Marauders had played on them, but it was something, and something was better than nothing.

---

Lily sighed, frustrated. Getting the Marauders back would be hard. Unlike the Marauders, pranks did not exactly come easy for the girls, and while the Marauders could spontaneously think up of a prank at that precise moment, it was a different story for the girls. They sat, thinking hard of a worthy prank to play, but since pranks were not their specialty, none came at the moment. And while the Marauders could come up with pranks on their own, Lily and her friends struggled to think of one together.

"What if you did something with their appearances?" Julie suggested thoughtfully. "You know, since most of the girls think they're good looking and everything."

"That's a good idea," Lily agreed.

"Let's make their hair stand on end!" Ashlynn exclaimed.

"Better yet, let's make their hair frizzy and stand on end!" Latisha added.

The girls excitedly stood up and hit fives.

---

The Marauders seemed one step ahead of the girls in every prank. The girls made the Marauders' hair frizzy and stand on end alright, but it couldn't hide their very handsome features. Sirius laughed gleefully at his friends and felt the top of his head and then laughed gleefully at himself.

'Stupid git,' Lily thought to herself as she watched Sirius laughing at himself, the afro he called hair sticking out everywhere, as if he had just stuck his finger into an electric socket.

She herself wasn't laughing when she stared across the table and saw Latisha. Bald. With no hair whatsoever. Just her beautiful dark hair gone, and her bald head gleaming like a star under the light, reflecting everything around her. She sat there, gaping at Latisha and pointing. Latisha sat up, felt her hairless head, and then screamed bloody murder with the threat of a smile quirking her lips. She thought this was amusing...

Lily definitely did not find this funny like Sirius or amusing like Latisha. She found this... atrocious.

The next day didn't go any better either. The girls turned their robes funny colours, interesting shades of pink and purple, some with stripes and spots, while the Marauders turned their hair funny colours, interesting shades of puke green and even rainbow coloured. It was a losing battle, but Lily was determined not to go down without a fight.

Latisha and Ashlynn seemed to immensely enjoy the 'prank competition' and didn't seem to mind half as much as Lily did when pranks were played on them. Although Latisha was more outgoing than Ashlynn and would yell things across the Great Hall, Ashlynn was more shy and quiet about the whole ordeal. Julie was shocked about the whole thing. She couldn't quite get over the fact that she was being pranked too. It wasn't like the pranks were the type that the Marauders played on Snape, they were more friendly and less atrocious. But to Lily, they were equally atrocious.

The Marauders, meanwhile, were surprised at the determination that the girls had and had to admit, that even though their pranks were nowhere near as good as theirs, they were at least making an effort. Which made it all the more entertaining.

---

James sighed, placing his head in his hands. He had just looked at the list of Quidditch players and found that he needed a few positions to replace. Chaser and Keeper. He groaned. It was times like these he wished he wasn't the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.

"Who are worthy Quidditch players?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged, distractedly munching on a chocolate frog. He thought for a moment. "Actually, I was talking to Latisha about Quidditch. She was wondering when you were going to start practices. She wants to try out her Shooting Star. She was finally able to get one, after she saw that everyone else had one."

"She still talks to you even though you play pranks on her?" James asked.

"Well, we're playing them for fun. Well you and Evans aren't, but we are. It livens up the school a bit. Anyways, she was going on about that Ashlynn girl. Supposedly she's a good chaser."

"Guess we'll have to check her out. Anyways, you can tell Latisha we're starting practices next Monday and that we'll have Chaser and Keeper tryouts on that Friday."

Sirius shrugged again. "Will do mate."

---

Of course, the prank competition did not stop the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that. In fact, even after a week the Marauders did not show any sign of wavering or running out of ideas. Lily was beginning to feel frustrated that they had barely played any pranks and the ones they did play weren't exactly good quality. She wanted to think of one that would totally surprise them and knock their socks off. And so she sat and thought. And sat and thought some more. And eventually one came to her.

The morning started quite normally actually. Lily and her friends entered the Great Hall for breakfast and pranked were played on them. This time, their feet had grown huge and heavy and they could barely lift them. Latisha had ended up stepping on a lot of people's feet and even clobbered someone when she tried to seat herself on the bench.

But feet weren't the only thing that were huge and heavy. As the Marauders' laughter subsided and they continued shoveling food down their throats (Lily wondered if they even _tasted_ their food), they began to grow. They began to grow fat. And huge. James had to undo his tie or else his enormous neck would have been constricted and he wouldn't have been able to breathe. His forehead drooped over his eyes and his eyes were almost shut due to the fact that he was so fat. His robes expanded and stretched. Beside him, Sirius was also growing at an alarming rate and so was Remus and Peter across from them. They kept growing and started taking up so much space that people were shoved off the end of benches. The benches creaked and groaned under their weight so that Lily was almost sure the benches would give way. Then something even more amusing happened. All four boys seemed to weigh much, much more than the weight of the other people sitting on the benches, so that Lily's end of the bench began to lift and everyone slid down towards the Marauders. Lily decided that at the point it would've been a good idea to stop the charm. And so she did. After everyone had toppled onto the Marauders of course.

Lily found herself laughing hysterically. When her laughter had calmed a bit, she realized she was laying on top of someone, and was looking into the angry hazel eyes of James Potter himself. Realizing this fact, she quickly jumped up and dusted herself off. James also got to his feet, now back to his regular size.

"Nice one, Evans," he said sarcastically through clenched teeth.

"It actually was a good one," Sirius said excitedly. "I didn't think you had it in you." He immediately shut up when James glared angrily at him.

"It isn't over yet," James promised, before he turned and quickly left the hall.


	3. A Living Hell

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

**_Part I _**

**_Thrill of the Chase_**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the famous characters or the world of Harry Potter. I'm _borrowing_ them from JKR's fabulous writing. I just own the characters you've never heard of and the ideas. ;P

A/N: I'm feeling incredible lazy so I don't think I'll make any changes to the chapters I took off. Well maybe minor ones. Tiny changes and additions. And then we'll see how far I get with that. Hopefully I'll find more time to write and actually be able to write and actually find inspiration because I'm dropping a class in school. So that means more time. Yay.

"_What we call human nature in actuality is human habit."_

_---_

**Chapter 3 _A Living Hell_**

Lily groaned and rolled over, the early morning sunlight flitting in through the curtains, which in turn were flitting through her hangings, which were blinding her. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, sitting up groggily. It had been over a week since she had gotten the Marauders with the growing charm. She smirked at the mental picture it evoked. It was quiet after that. There were no pranks or snarky comments for over a week. One full, blissful week. Maybe she had won the competition after all.

Lily cheerfully hopped out of her warm bed, ready to face the beautiful Saturday ahead of her. She was ready to hear Latisha groaning and complaining about the sunlight, and having to get up early, but to her surprise, she was not there. Her bed was empty, with the covers thrown hastily over. Lily looked to the side and noticed that Ashlynn's bed was also empty, with the covers thrown _neatly_ over. She then remembered that Latisha and Ashlynn had an early morning Quidditch practice. Julie however, seemed too peaceful in her sleep Lily didn't have the heart to wake her. Shrugging to herself, she quickly showered and scrambled down to the Great Hall for breakfast a little late at 9:20.

Lily was proud that Ashlynn had gone for Quidditch tryouts and made it on the team, much to the persuasion and threats of Latisha. It was a great step for her, seeing that she had given up on Quidditch a long while ago. Lily smiled happily as Julie finally joined her for breakfast, piling some toast on her plate and greeting her at the same time.

A few moments later, the Gryffindor Quidditch team entered, with their new keeper Kyle Reynolds and Ashlynn trailing not too far behind. Latisha plunked herself down beside Lily and reached for some bacon, while Ashlynn sat more gracefully across, her dark eyes deep in concentration.

"How was practice?" Lily asked, shoving a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

"Brutal. Smashing. Rough," came the replies of Latisha. "And it's only the third practice since tryouts!"

"It was pretty difficult," Ashlynn agreed. "James wanted to try me as a beater with Sirius. That was brutal. I got clobbered big time." She rolled up her sleeve, showing a deep purple bruise that was beginning to form. "I don't have much strength as a beater. I can't take much either. In the words of James." She shrugged and sighed. "That's why I tried out as Chaser."

"You're good," Latisha encouraged.

"Yeah, I only dropped the Quaffle a total of seventeen times since the first practice. Only four times though this practice. Sirius was counting." She made a face of loathing as Sirius nodded flirtatiously at her and then turned back to her food.

"James has been pretty quiet with the prank competition thing," Latisha mumbled, taking a swig of her pumpkin juice. "I wonder what he has planned."

Lily shrugged. "He can do whatever he wants. I'll take it. Besides, I'm not wasting a beautiful Saturday worrying about Potter. What do you guys want to do?"

"I actually have to finish that Herbology and Potions essay," Julie moaned in disgust.

Lily smiled sympathetically. It would suck being stuck indoors doing homework on such a nice day. She was glad that she finished it beforehand with Ashlynn. Latisha took a moment before swallowing.

"Yeah, I only have a little bit more on that Potions essay before I'm done."

Lily immediately stopped talking as two pretty girls, by the names of Chloe Martyn and Myriah Kelly, appeared behind Julie. The blonde one of the two, Chloe, leaned forwards, while Myriah swung her dark brown hair over her shoulder and glanced longingly at the Marauders.

"I wonder if James Potter ever notices me," Myriah thought aloud, in a blondish sort of way. Lily snorted into her food. It was all she could do to not burst out laughing.

"You should laugh Lily Evans."

"Anyways, Juls, you're meeting us down by the lake later right?" Chloe asked. "That new girl will be there, forget what her name is."

Julie nodded. "Hang on. I'm almost done here." Lily watched as she shoved the remainder of the food into her mouth and stood up, smiling at Lily. "I'll see you later Lils." And before Lily had a chance to reply, she was already trotting out the doors of the Great Hall.

---

James took a moment to take in Lily's features before he left the Great Hall to the sunshine of the outdoors. As he had been doing for the last few days of the week. Or maybe the last few weeks. Right now she was laughing, and he had the sudden urge to be the one making her laugh. Lily Evans was no doubt beautiful. Her red hair complemented her fiery temper and her bright green eyes were piercing. She was completely different to what he was use to. Lily Evans stood firm to her beliefs and she was loyal to her friends. But boy, could she hold a grudge. As she displays to him. Lily Evans always thought things through. But obviously, she had not thought things through before she had rushed to Snape's defense, so she would pay. She had surprised him with her pranks. James smiled slightly as he followed his friends outside. Wait until she saw what else he had in store for her.

It was then that he noticed that Sirius was staring at him as if he was crazy.

"Something funny?" he asked mildly, tilting his head to the side. Sirius must have noticed him smiling out of nowhere.

Almost immediately he heard a bunch of sighs and turned in the direction. Sirius' huge group of admirers were standing there and his fling of the week was also there. Sirius beckoned her over in which she readily flew to him and he placed an arm around her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. She appeared to have melted in his arms. James wondered briefly how Sirius could always do it. He had a way with girls. Before long though Sirius had sent her away and they continued walking to their favourite spot to hang out. The tree by the lake.

No one really knew how that came to be their favourite hang out spot. Maybe it was the fact that it was the first place they went to in first year, or maybe it was the fact that Lily and her friends liked to hang out not too far from where they were. This was usually the place where they talked and thought up of some more pranks. It was almost like the Marauders owned this area. No one was ever around it. Unless they were looking to be humiliated. This was also where Lily had blown up at James when he and Sirius were pranking Snape. Yes, Lily Evans was still fiery, if not more now so. James didn't know how to react when Lily had shouted at him so much. And then turned him down when he asked her out by saying she would rather date the giant squid. Sirius appeared to be thinking along the same lines.

"Hey Prongsie, remember when Lily - "

"Shut up," James said quickly. "I don't want to hear it."

Sirius grinned, then shrugged, staring across the grounds at a group of girls.

"So what's with the prank competition?" Peter asked curiously, munching on a chocolate frog. "It's been a long while since you played any pranks on her."

James shrugged. Lily had shocked him with that growing charm. It was a pretty good prank now that he thought of it. It sorta made him watch what he ate and how much he ate afterwards.

"Moony, you feeling OK?" Sirius asked, concerned. He was peering at his quiet friend, who seemed paler than usual. His eyes seemed sunken in and appeared to take a more vivid shade of amber than the usual.

Remus smiled. "It's about time."

"Take it easy then," Peter said.

James seemed oblivious to this conversation at the moment.

"I'm moving on to Phase II of the plan," he stated, out of nowhere.

His friends stared at him as if he was loosing his marbles. Which seemed pretty often. James just sat there, a mad smirk plastered on his face.

"Phase II?" Peter asked weakly, afraid to know the answer.

"Of what plan?" Sirius asked sharply. "Don't you know the full moon's - "

"Yes, I know, I heard," James interrupted, waving his hands. "And we'll be there right with him. Nothing's going to change that."

"OK then, so Phase II of what plan?" Sirius repeated.

James smiled gleefully. "I promised Evans two things, didn't I?"

"You did?" Peter asked, confused.

"Yes, I did. I promised her that if she wanted to get involved in our pranks, she would. Phase I of the plan. But now that she hasn't backed down, I have no choice but to result to Phase II of the plan."

Sirius raised his eyebrows as beside him Peter squeaked, "I'm scared."

"And what exactly is Phase II?" Sirius asked again.

James smirked again, seeming to enjoy watching his friends squirm in anticipation of his answer.

"Making her job as prefect a living hell."

---

"C'mon," Latisha encouraged, whipping the Quaffle at Ashlynn.

"I can't, I mean, oh - " Ashlynn gave a groan of frustration as she fumbled the Quaffle and it dropped out of her hands. "This is useless, I might as well resign before I do anymore damage."

"I believe this is yours," a voice said. Both girls turned to see Sirius Black joining them on his own broom. The bright red Quaffle was in his hands.

"Actually, yeah," Latisha said. "We're trying to practice a bit more before practice. But seeing I don't have any coaching or leadership skills - "

"This is pointless," Ashlynn replied scornfully. "I don't have the talent for this."

"Yes you do." Sirius smiled. "Look, I've seen a lot of people try out, and I've seen a lot of Quidditch players and I know a good Quidditch player when I see one. You can tell, just by the way they move, the way they fly, the way they look. You have the potential talent buried down there somewhere. If my guesses are correct, you're just nervous, which accounts for all your fumbles and your lack of concentration."

Latisha gave Sirius a weird look. "You're being nice."

"It's my job as a fellow Quidditch player to encourage those also on the team," Sirius replied. He smiled one of his charming smiles again. "I would love to help you out."

"That would be great," Latisha answered for Ashlynn. "I mean, you're so much better at this coaching thing and leadership thing than I am." She turned to Ashlynn, who had her mouth slightly open. "He's really good. He can really help you out."

"Yeah, I can even show you a few moves. Quidditch moves that is," he added hastily. Duh.

Latisha smiled. "Then it's settled."

"It is?" Ashlynn asked, finally able to find her voice.

"Yes. Sirius will help you."

---

James had not put Phase II of his plan into action just yet. It wasn't that he didn't know what to do, it was just he enjoyed seeing Lily gloat and apparently think that she had won. But after a few more days of her I-know-I-won-and-you-didn't smirks, he decided it would be a good time to start. Oh, if only she knew...

He looked around and smiled at the commotion he was going to cause. He could not wait to see the look on Lily Evan's face when she came into the common room.

Lily Evans gathered her things from the library and headed towards Gryffindor tower, her arms full and her mind a million miles away. She was wondering if Jade would ever come back. Jade Mitchell. Jade was one of Lily's close friends, but something had happened to her over the summer. While Latisha was the more outgoing and spontaneous one, Jade was more of the advice giver and the one who was usually logical. When Lily was busy, she didn't get much time to think, but times like these she realized how much she missed Jade. Lily really did love her friends, Julie and Latisha, Ashlynn and Jade. They were all her close friends, but Julie and Ashlynn were her best friends. She couldn't wait to get back to her dorm. Take a nice long bath, grab a book and read peacefully in the common room without any distractions...

She stepped through the common room, looking down at the load of things she was carrying in her arms and not noticing the scene in front of her at first. She looked up when a ball of puff collided into her already throbbing head and her mouth dropped in shock.

There were animals. Everywhere. There were owls upon owls perched upon the curtains, hooting loudly, frogs all over the furniture, croaking madly, cats streaking under chairs and ripping apart furniture, hissing angrily. There were rats sitting on tables. There were droppings and wrecked furniture everywhere. It seemed like a madhouse. A zoo on the loose.

Lily continued staring, her mouth still dropped. Her arms let go of the heavy load and all her parchment and quills scattered across the floor. Her ink bottles smashed, spraying the liquid everywhere. What was she suppose to do? What did the Prefects manual say about situations like this? Where was Remus?

Lily closed her eyes, trying to picture the Prefects manual. A first year girl went flying past her, screaming bloody murder as owls sat on her head. Another second year boy went streaking past her, a horde of cats hot on his trail.

_In situations consisting of:_

_Charmed objects - mutter the counter spell _(well duh)_ see page 76 for list of counter spells_

_Windows that will not close - get a stronger person to help you or make sure that the window is not charmed to stay open, once again, see page 76 for list of counter spells_

_Fight Among Students - proceed to break up fight cautiously, if not able to contact Head Boy or Girl, contact Head of House_

_Uncontrollable Fire - put out fire, see page 89 for list of useful spells, or contact house elf administration for fires. _(where the hell do you contact a house elf?)_ If all else fails, contact Head of House _

_Indoor Rain - grab an umbrella, or mutter a counter spell, see page 76_

'Of course,' Lily thought dully. 'Leave it to me to memorize the useless or whacked out weird ones. _Indoor rain? _What the heck was indoor rain? What's one for wild animals on the loose?'

Lily closed her eyes again, trying to remember any other situations out of the Prefects Manual. She knew she should've memorized it. Nothing came, except for the ones that she thought sounded particularly funny and didn't help at all. She didn't want to contact Professor McGonagall just yet, she wanted to seem like she was perfectly in control and could calmly handle situations. There goes her idea of a nice, relaxing bath and reading a book in a peaceful common room...

"Having some difficulties, Evans?" A voice called out. Lily's eyes flew open. Potter.

"Did you do this?" Lily asked angrily.

James shrugged.

"You did, didn't you?" She ducked as another owl swooped by her. "I can't believe you, Potter. Of all nerves - "

She started advancing on him. She didn't have proof that he did it of course. But wild animals all of a sudden appearing loose in the common room, how could that not be the doings of James Potter? She disliked everything about him right now (more so). The way he was standing there, with his cocky grin, the way he was running his hands through his hair because he thought it was smug and sexy... Sexy, what?!

She didn't know what she was going to do when she reached him. Punch him maybe? Wipe that stupid grin off his face. Or maybe push him? She doubted she could even budge him, he was much taller and probably stronger than her. She didn't have to worry that much because at that precise moment a gray cat streaked in front of her and she tripped (being the clumsy person that she is) right into... James arms. His reflexes were excellent and his grip was strong.

Blushing madly, she regain her composure and pushed him with all the strength she could muster. He stumbled backwards slightly (only slightly) with the cockiest smirk she had ever seen plastered on his face (if it was possible).

"_Falling_ for me, Evans?"

"You wish," she snapped. "Get rid of these animals."

"I. Don't. Know. How," James said, pretending to go all dramatic. "Oh, woes me."

"I'm serious Potter." (Haha no I'm Sirius. Sorry. Must. Resist. Urge.)

"I'm not the Prefect, am I?" James shot back.

"Well your friend is and I don't see him around. Just get rid of this mess!"

"Sorry, but I got matters to attend to." With that, James stomped off towards the staircase to the boys dormitories.

"James Potter! Stop this instant!"

James stopped, one foot on the stair. "Go on, Evans, beg me. I will if - "

"NO!" Lily screamed. "No, I will not."

"Suit yourself." Lily watched, exasperated, as he disappeared up the stairs.

She closed her eyes as the racket in the common room continued. She felt like her head was going to explode. It could not get any worse.

"Miss Evans! What in the name of Merlin is going on here?"

It just got worse. Lily froze. She knew that voice. McGonagall. And to make matter worse she was standing right in the middle of the common room, probably making it look like she had done it. Slowly, Lily turned around.

Remus was beside the Professor, an amused look apparent on his face as he held back a grin that was threatening to escape. McGonagall however, looked shocked and appalled as an owl swooped down to perch itself upon her head. She waved it off, still staring intently at Lily.

"Explain the situation at hand."

"I, well, I - " Lily faltered. What was she suppose to say? Potter did it ma'am, even though he's not here and I have no proof, I know he did it? Now THAT, made her sound responsible.

"Perhaps we ought to cage the animals and get the students of Gryffindor tower to claim their pets?" Remus suggested. "It would be much better than to leave them loose here, wouldn't it?"

Lily glared at Remus. How could he make her look like an inexperienced fool. Why hadn't she thought of caging the animals? When she looked up again, McGonagall was gone.

'Way to go Lily,' she thought to herself. 'Didn't you make the grandest impression of Prefect?'

"Are you going to help me Lily?" Remus asked politely. "I'm pretty sure it would go much quicker if we both did this. And then I can rouse up the boys in their dorms to claim their pets and you can do the same in the girls dorms."

Lily didn't say anything, just nodded. Was it possible to dislike anybody more than Potter himself? Lily decided it wasn't, and continued conjuring up cages alongside Remus.

'So much for my relaxing bath and peaceful reading.'

---

A/N: Yeah, the manual isn't ACTUALLY the manual. It's a fake one from no other than you know who. Well not exactly you-know-who but you know who I mean. (In case you didn't get that, it starts with marau- and ends with -ders ;P)


	4. Slowly Going Crazy

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

**_Part I _**

**_Thrill of the Chase_**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the famous characters or the world of Harry Potter. I'm _borrowing_ them from JKR's fabulous writing. I just own the characters you've never heard of ;P

A/N: Here's the next re-posted chapter. Ummmm..... No changes. I wish I could re-post every single chapter up to where I left off but I can't because...I'm weird... and wellllll... I have my reasons. Do not fret. We're halfway there.

"_I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch. Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch." _

**Chapter 4 ****_Slowly Going Crazy_**

Lily lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Right after the wild animals in the common room incident, she had retreated back into her dorm room, wondering miserably why James Potter hated her so. She knew though that it was going to keep escalating and there was probably nothing she could do to stop it. Lily could hear her friends whispering outside her hangings, more than likely about her, but she didn't care. The start of term did not exactly start off too well and showed no signs of getting better. She was becoming exasperated by it all.

"Hey." Lily rolled over as Julie stuck her head in, smiling slightly. Lily smiled back.

"Nope, she's still alive!" Julie yelled playfully over her shoulder.

"Oh good, I didn't know what we were going to do without her," Latisha said, breathing a mock sigh of relief. "Heard about the incident." She clucked her tongue sympathetically. "Now _that's_ where my owl went."

"Want to do something?" Julie asked Lily.

"Besides kill Potter? No, not really. I'm beginning to wonder if this whole prefect thing is worth it. See Ashlynn, I told you they were monsters."

Ashlynn laughed and grinned before returning to her homework. There were scrunched up balls of parchment everywhere and Lily couldn't help but grin at her friend's perfectionism.

"Chocolate frog?" Julie offered, but without waiting for an answer she shoved the whole thing in Lily's mouth, causing her to sit up and cough.

"Thanks," Lily said meekly. Her eyes wandered to Jade's empty bed and she felt a slight pang of loneliness. Jade would probably be sitting there, flipping through Witch Weekly or Teen Witch. "Do you guys think Jade will ever come back?"

Her friends stiffened at the mention of Jade.

"I hope so," Latisha choked out, breaking the silence. Ashlynn nodded in agreement, she had met Jade and hung out with her a few times before.

As if on cue, a handsome tawny owl came fluttering in through the open window and landed on Ashlynn's desk, scattering her parchment and quills. She looked at it in surprise, and Lily, recognizing the owl as Pagon, nearly jumped on Ashlynn's desk, snatching the letter from the owl's leg.

"Hey Pagon!" Latisha exclaimed happily, stroking the owl before he flapped his wings and disappeared out of the window from whence it came. Lily had tore open the letter by now and started reading aloud.

_Hey girls,_

_Hope you haven't missed me too much, but I sure as hell missed you guys a LOT. Just wanna say hi to Ashlynn, I can't wait to meet her again._

_Anyways, I'm just writing to let you guys know that I'm coming back to Hogwarts sometime next week. I really can't stand the thought of being in hiding, what with my father being killed and all, and then my mother freaking out. I've finally persuaded her to let me come back to school, I told her Hogwarts was pretty safe, after all. My mom can be so pessimistic at times. It wasn't like my father was personally targeted after all. He just you know, stuff like this happens when you're an Auror._

_So my summer really sucked. I hope yours were all better. I've decided that I'm not going to brood over my father's death, he always told me that his job had no guarantees. He told me that if something should ever happen to him, he wouldn't want us to be brooding over it. He would want us to move on and be happy. But I know my dad. If he died while making a difference to the world, that's all that matters. He told me to live life to the fullest_

_I'm trying to. It's so hard. But hopefully things will get better at Hogwarts. Hope I haven't missed much. See you all soon and take care._

_Love Always,_

_Jade _

Lily blinked, staring at the parchment as if it was a joke. Her friends froze around her, smiles on their faces.

"I can't believe Jade's coming back!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up and down and hugging Julie. Maybe things were going to turn out for the best after all.

--

All thoughts that things were going to get better flew out the window the way it came the next night. Her problems came back, in the form of James Potter. He just didn't know when to quit.

This time, she entered the common room to smoke. And lots of it. Thinking there was an _uncontrollable fire_ or something, Lily freaked out. Only to find that the Marauders (minus Remus) were playing a charmed version of Exploding Snap, which included lots and lots of smoke. Then when Lily tried to get them to stop, Sirius thought it would be quite funny to set off fireworks, _indoors_. Adding to the massive amount of smoke now accumulating in the common room. Lily's eyes stung and watered and she couldn't open her mouth to yell at them because she would end up breathing in smoke, sending her into coughing fits.

After a minute or two, Lily finally rushed over to the window and tried to wrench it open. Only to have it stuck. _Unopenable Windows_ from the Prefect's Manual flashed through her head and she couldn't help but grin a bit. It was a bit odd. Sirius, now realizing how much smoke was in the common room, hurried over to help her open the window to try and lessen the amount of smoke in the common room. It lessened all right, but not by much. James, finally reaching his senses, muttered a charm that got rid of all the smoke. When the smoke cleared Lily found herself glaring at the Marauders, all of whom were covered in ash and soot. Peter looked extremely guilty but that did not cool Lily's temper at all.

"What in the name of Merlin are you lot trying to do?!" Lily yelled, outraged. "Burn down all of Gryffindor tower?!"

"We were playing a game of Exploding Snap, actually," Sirius answered innocently, quite quiet compared to Lily's yelling.

"Charmed Exploding Snap?!"

"Well, we're young, and we're students, and we were just curious - " Sirius began, trying to save face and attempting not to grin, but failing miserably. Although he had soot smothered across his face he was still very handsome and good looking. His icy blue eyes stood out against his dark hair even more and the innocent look on his face was to die for.

James had not said anything yet, just stood there with a smug look on his face and Lily felt as if she could've slapped him. In fact, it took her everything not to.

---

James Potter was well on the way with Phase II of his plans and he was delighted at the results he was getting. He still had a few more events up his sleeve, and would only stop if Lily would go out with him, or until he felt bored of the ideas. One or the other. Probably the first one.

Lily had expected to enter the common room to some sort of mischief every night. Some of them weren't so bad. But some of the ideas that he came up with were outrageous. Take the next one for example.

Lily entered the common room (as usual) except with Ashlynn with her this time. They had both finished the weeks' homework (Lily was glad that she now had someone on the same wavelength homework wise instead of her always being the homework freak) in the library.

And they both stopped and stared at the scene in front of them. James and Sirius, along with a few other guys from the Quidditch team, were flying around on brooms playing Quidditch indoors. Lily couldn't believe it and she had to do a double take. Ashlynn, meanwhile, was staring at the scene in amusement, a grin escaping from her lips as she laughed in delight.

"Can I play?" she asked, to Lily's horror. For a split second Lily was glad that Latisha wasn't also joining in on the 'fun,' but probably would be if she knew what they were doing.

"No!" Lily yelled. "Get off your brooms now! You're not suppose to be playing Quidditch indoors! Take it outside!"

Lily ducked as a bludger flew her way and Sirius swooped down behind her. He stopped and poised, holding the beating stick as if he was holding a baseball bat and swung, hitting the bludger into the fireplace and sparking flames everywhere.

Then, Latisha bounded downstairs, and being the Quidditch freak that she was, demanded that she play too. Lily told her no and Latisha (either ignoring her or genuinely didn't hear her) grabbed the stick out of Sirius' hand.

'And these two are suppose to be my friends,' Lily thought glumly.

Lily and Ashlynn watched as Latisha swung with all her might and smashed the bludger through the closed window, shattering it to pieces in a shower of glass. Lily's mouth dropped open.

"Snitch outside!" James hollered. Lily watched, in relief, as each one of them soared through the broken window, amazed for a second that they could all fit.

Latisha was laughing and Ashlynn had a mad grin on her face. Lily glared at her friends and they immediately shut up.

"You guys are Quidditch freaks," Lily retorted. "You're my friends, you're suppose to help me."

"But I did," Latisha replied. "I got them outside, didn't I?"

"Breaking the window in the process." Lily went over and peered out the window. She couldn't see where they had gone, but she could hear their cheers and whoops. "_Reparo_."

Lily watched as the window repaired itself and then muttered a charm to clean up the shards of glass dangerously littering the floor.

Things did not get better from there. The next night there were a bunch of first year boys fighting with each other, and when Lily had gone to intervene, they wouldn't heed her orders and just kept on socking each other in the face. When Lily had pulled the one first year away from the other he stopped for a moment and looked up at Lily.

"We'll only stop if you go out with James Potter!"

Lily glared at the little boy, and then looked swiftly around the room, her eyes resting on Potter, who was sitting quite comfortably in a squishy armchair, watching the scene with a smirk on his face.

Lily thought it would be quite wrong to yell at the boys if they were working for James, so she sent them away with the threats of them spending quality time with Professor McGonagall if they did not stop. She watched in satisfaction as they hurried up to their dorms. She then rounded on James.

"Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?" Lily asked angrily.

James shrugged. "You heard the boy. I'll stop it all if you go out with me."

Lily shook her head. "You just don't get it, do you Potter?" She turned from him and ascended the stairs to the girls dormitories herself, her footsteps echoing.

---

Maybe Lily had hoped that James won't get the picture and eventually stop and leave her alone. But James Potter did not work that way, and his determination was even more set in stone. He seemed to have taken a liking to get others on his side, especially the younger ones, in which he used against her.

The days did not go by uneventful. She had first years setting fires to couches, first years pulling down curtains, first years doing everything imaginable and she was losing it. Very slowly. She wondered where the hell Remus was and why he wasn't ever around during times of need. She doubted he would stop it even if he were around though. And so the days passed, in which she would grit her teeth and boil over everyday. And James seemed to enjoy every second of it.

---

"Well, you've progressed really well over the last couple out-of-practice practices," Sirius grinned, high fiving her.

They were both in the Quidditch pitch, hovering several feet from the ground. Their practice had started off sunny and bright, but in the last forty five minutes that had elapsed dark rain clouds had rolled in and were threatening to spill. It was amazing how quick the weather could change.

Ashlynn smiled at him but said nothing.

"In fact, I would go as far as to say that I would think that you don't need them anymore."

Ashlynn looked up and shook her head violently.

"No, not yet." She smiled slightly. "I mean, I've progressed to being able to catch the Quaffle without fumbling. I want to, I dunno, make a comeback. I know James is your friend, but he was really mean to me when I first started."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, James is like that." He thought for a moment. "What about I teach you some Quidditch moves. And maybe some flying tips." His eyes glinted playfully for a second. "What about laps? Or races?"

"Races? With you?"

Sirius pretended to look around. "Well, I don't see anyone else."

"No need for sarcasm. But, I would actually like to save my pride today."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sirius asked, looking at her.

"Well, you're good. And if I raced you, I wouldn't stand a chance."

Sirius nodded playfully. "Yeah, true," he said jokingly. He watched her duck a bludger, almost instinctually. During the weeks he had got to know her and seen her in practices, she seemed to have a true love and talent for Quidditch. But she had stopped playing. Something did not seem to click.

"Latisha told me you use to play Chaser. And you played well. What happened?"

Ashlynn stiffened and looked off into the distance, where the clouds seem to be getting darker. "I, uhm, well - I got into an accident. So I stopped playing. Hey, race you to the other end of the pitch!"

Sirius watched her accelerate away from him. He had a feeling that she was not exactly telling the whole story, but shrugged it off. They weren't exactly friends after all, so what right did he have to intrude. He decided to give her a few seconds head start and then took off after her, beating her (of course) to the other side of the pitch. By now it had started to lightly spit.

"Oi, Ashlynn!"

Sirius and Ashlynn both looked down and noticed Lily beckoning her over for dinner.

---

"I can't wait for Jade to come back," Lily sung happily. She seemed to have developed a way for her to bounce back every time Potter made her mad. She would think about Jade coming back and then she would feel much better for the time being.

But of course, James Potter always had a surprise for her.

Latisha entered the common room first, saying the password (wigglewaggle). She took a step in and heard a splash. Looking down she saw that there was a puddle. Julie came in after her, followed by Lily, and then Ashlynn.

Lily looked down at the slightly flooded floor and thought that maybe someone had left the window open, since the sky had split open and buckets of rain was pouring outside. She quickly changed her mind when she looked over at the stairs leading up to the boys and girls dormitories dripping with water like a waterfall. She closed her eyes in frustration.

"Bloody hell," Latisha cursed aloud as she ran up the stairs and noticed the stream of water coming steadily from the girls bathrooms. Shrieks and screams could also be heard coming from the bathrooms.

"What now?" Lily questioned angrily as she pushed open the door.

"Lily!" a fellow sixth year exclaimed. "Lily! Make the taps stop running!"

"Lily! The toilets won't stop spitting water!"

"Lily!"

"Lily I'm soaked, what am I going to do!"

"Lily, the showers - "

"Lily stop it!"

"Lily, this whole place is flooding!"

"Lilyyy!"

"Be quiet, the whole lot of you!" Lily yelled angrily. "Yes, I see the taps are running, yes I see the toilets and showers spitting water, yes I see that you're wet so then why don't you leave?!"

She briskly walked over to the taps and muttered a spell to counter the sticking charm on the taps. The taps immediately stopped running and Lily wondered for a moment why nobody else had thought of to use a counter charm. Were they witches or not?

She then stopped the toilets and shower from spitting water and cleaned up the flood with a flick of her wand. Did being prefect mean babysitting too? Why on earth couldn't they have stopped it themselves?

Lily automatically knew that it was James, but how James managed to get into the girls bathrooms completely baffled her as he couldn't even get up the stairs. She wouldn't put it past him to do something so _atrocious_ though.

She stormed down the stairs, cleaning up the water and repairing the damage as she went. She stood there, fuming to herself angrily as her friends stood at the top of the stairs watching her cautiously, in the event that she might explode.

Sirius then bounded down the stairs, smiling gleefully and making a beeline towards Lily. "Lily the whole boys bathroom is - "

Lily held up a hand. "Shush. You know as I know who did it. And you know as I know that you are more than capable of handling it yourself. You are one of the top wizards of the year, Black. Don't tell me you don't know how to stop it yourself."

Sirius opened his mouth as if to retaliate, but Lily had already walked up the stairs and Sirius stared after her. Wow, she was so mad she couldn't even yell. It made him wonder if James was even any closer at getting Lily Evans to go out with him because it sure as hell didn't look like it.


	5. A Proposition

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

**_Part I _**

**_Thrill of the Chase_**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the famous characters or the world of Harry Potter. I'm _borrowing_ them from JKR's fabulous writing. I just own the characters you've never heard of and the ideas. ;P

A/N: I'm really angry right now. **Child-of-scorpio**'s story, **_The Truth of the Heart_**, just got taken down. It was so beautifully written, had so many readers and reviewers and was so successful. I just wanna find the person who is the reason for the removal of the story because startsmumblingastringofinappropriatenamesandinsults and I wish I could mumblesabunchofthingsiwishicoulddotothem. OK, well, next reposted chapter.

"_Every journey starts with a single step."_

**Chapter 5 _A Proposition_**

"I can't believe this. This is going way too far. Is he ever going to grow up? I mean, he has to be James Potter right. He doesn't know when to quit. He _had_ to get the first years to work with him. He _had_ to start the stupid prank competition. He _has_ to make my job a living hell. He's just so, so - "

Lily's friends lay sprawled on their respective beds, listening to their friend go on and on about James Potter and his twisted world for the last hour. It seemed so much worse when the only sound in the room was Lily's angry voice, the pitter patter of the heavy rain outside, and Latisha smacking her gum. It was enough to drive anyone mad.

"What did I do? Why me? What can I do to make it stop? McGonagall is getting really angry at my lack of control and responsibility. I'm always in control. I'm responsible. _Right_? He's ruining my reputation. I've worked so hard to become prefect. And I want to be Head Girl next year. I won't let him ruin my chances. It would just be nice and dandy if - "

"Make her stop," Latisha pleaded quietly, clasping her hands together and diverting her eyes to the heavens above. "Please. Anything."

Lily was oblivious to Latisha's slight gesture and continued on.

"And what about Remus huh? Where is he? Why is he never around? He's conveniently not around when he's needed, huh? It's ridiculous. How did he get the position of prefect anyways? I still wonder. He's one of Potter's _best friends_, for Merlin's sake!"

"Lily, please!" Latisha cried. "Enough. Mercy."

"I want it all to stop," Lily continued on. ("Me too," Latisha agreed under her breath about Lily). "I'll make him stop. I'm desperate here. Really desperate. I don't want my chances ruined. You guys don't know how much I want to be Head Girl."

"Enough to go on," Latisha mumbled again. She groaned as Lily glared at her and then continued on with her rant about James Potter.

Julie continued reading_ Teen Witch_ distractedly, flipping through the pages. Ashlynn stared blankly at her Potions essay, trying to work out what it was she needed to write about while still trying to listen to Lily.

"And McGonagall." Lily shivered. "I don't even want to imagine her angry. That would be extremely horrid. And yet, to lose to Potter seems even more unbearable. To give him the satisfaction. I would never."

---

"James, you really think this is the best way of going about to make Lily Evans go out with you?" Sirius asked as they lay in their dorm room. "She seems really angry."

"It's going as planned," James remarked, smirking. "In fact, it couldn't be going any smoother."

"Really?" Sirius asked sarcastically, tilting his head a little bit (used on any girl they would fall all over themselves). "I don't see the results of that. I don't even think you're any _closer_ to winning her over."

Remus sat at the window, staring out into the rain through the darkened window pane. "You know James, Lily is going to wonder why I was never around to stop you."

James shrugged. "It's not your fault. And what can she say? You were sick."

"James, maybe you should cool it a little bit," Peter spoke up, scared of the reaction he was going to get and nearly quivering with fear. "And maybe then she'll think about it. I mean, you've been at it since the beginning of the year. And it's been almost a month."

James crossed his arms stubbornly and stared at his friends. "Nope. I won't stop."

"Look, mate, Lily Evans also shows no sign of wavering. If possible, it looks like she hates you even more. Do you get that?" Sirius asked, rapping on the top of James' head. "Anyways, I got to go help Keovanh."

Sirius headed over to his bed and promptly dropped to his hands and knees while reaching under his bed for his broom.

"Yes, how is she doing?" James asked curiously. "I hope she's doing better, I wouldn't want to have to cut her off the team."

"You wouldn't. You got to understand her situation right now. She's new to the entire _country_. It's going to take her a while to get use to the hang of things."

James shrugged. "Let's hope that it's in time for the first match."

Sirius remained silent as he pulled on a thicker sweater and grabbed his Quidditch gloves. In a few moments he was gone out the door. He went down the steps to the common room, lost in his thoughts. He was broken out of his little world when a voice greeted him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Black. Ready to go?" Ashlynn stood by the window smiling. Her dark, long hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail.

"Only if you are," Sirius grinned. The two of them walked out of the portrait hole, slowly making their way down to the Quidditch pitch. Honestly, Ashlynn was adapting to Hogwarts and the students and staff quite well. She wasn't as quiet as before, now that she knew a lot of the people and became comfortable around them.

"Why do you still want these out of practice practices that we've been having?" Sirius asked suddenly, breaking the silence between them.

Ashlynn shrugged. "Well, I still really want to prove James wrong, that I'm as good, perhaps better than he thinks. I hate people telling me what I can and can't do."

"I know what you mean," Sirius replied, thinking of his own life for a brief moment. "Don't you hate it when it feels like you're being suffocated?"

Ashlynn nodded before she awkwardly changed the subject. They both knew how it felt.

---

Lily hurried out of the library. It seemed that she was always in the library, and if she wasn't, then she would be hanging out with Julie or Ashlynn, but not the not the both of them together. They didn't say it, but Lily could feel the tension between the two and it was almost clear that they both did not get along well together for some odd reason that she could not see. She met up with Julie along the way back from the library and they joked about how she was turning into a bookworm, always in the library. It was all in fun though, they always teased each other playfully.

"Hey, who's that?" Julie asked suddenly, and Lily stopped, blinking hard.

There was a familiar profile just down the corridor, and the undeniable skip in the person's walk could be no other than -

"JADE!" Julie and Lily yelled together, rushing towards the brunette and clasping her into a bone crushing hug. Poor Jade was already bombarded with a thousand questions.

"How are you?"

"Oh my god, I can't believe you're back!"

"What's been happening?"

"How'd you get here?"

"When did you get here?"

"How's your family?"

Jade looked up, her light brown eyes shining with tears. "I can't believe I'm back. I thought I wouldn't see you guys again in Hogwarts." She laughed as they continued asking questions that she couldn't possibly answer all at the moment.

"You look great," Lily complemented. Jade's hair had grown a bit longer and was shoulder length with light brown streaks.

Jade was the social butterfly of the group. She got along with nearly everyone. She always had time to listen to her friends' problems and was always there for them. She listened to both sides of stories before she sided and came to a conclusion. She was the voice of reason, the girly one and the one who barely ever got angry, quite opposite to Latisha's nature.

And thus, Jade was reunited back within their group of friends. Latisha had the same reaction as Julie and Lily and nearly crushed her in the process. Ashlynn was shy at first (she always was), but after a few nights they were soon laughing and talking. It seemed just as if Jade had been there all along. She laughed at Lily's fights with 'Potter' and couldn't help grinning at the way Lily was reacting to it. Lily however, didn't think it was the least bit funny and even though Jade was back, she could not help boiling over every single time Potter annoyed her. Yes, things were back to normal.

The second time Lily got in trouble by McGonagall was another one of James' atrocious ideas of making her job a living hell, in which he was succeeding quite well and yet, Lily was not willing to back down.

This time though, he had managed to get many first and second years outside after hours, wandering the corridors and playing games. No matter how much Lily tried persuading them to get back into the common room, her threats were going unnoticed on temporarily deaf ears. She then angrily stomped back into the common room and had a go at James, who was laughing uncontrollably at her expense. McGonagall had angrily burst in though the portrait hole seconds later, to see James and Lily arguing, and Lily holding her wand out threateningly.

"Miss Evans!" McGonagall had boomed. "There are students outside after hours and you are in here _arguing_ with Mr Potter and holding out your wand? What sort of example are you setting? You know very well that duelling is not allowed, especially by a prefect! And isn't it your turn to patrol the corridors?"

Lily hastily thrust her wand back into her pocket and turned to face McGonagall.

"Professor! I - "

"Well?" McGonagall had her arms crossed and was staring intently at Lily, making Lily lose all the words she was going to say.

At that moment Remus had run down the stairs, hurriedly trying to do up his tie. He stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw Lily, James and McGonagall, and then his eyes trailed outside the portrait hole where a couple students had run by. He put the pieces together and immediately realized what had happened.

"Actually Professor," Remus interrupted, a cheesy smile on his soft features, "It was my turn to patrol the corridors, and I was uh, caught up in some...circumstances."

"Is this true?" McGonagall turned to face Lily and all Lily could manage was to stare back dumbly. "Even still, Miss Evans should be filling in if Mr Lupin is not able to perform his duties. That is why there are two prefects assigned, and not one. I am disappointed in both of you."

Lily watched as McGonagall strode outside and bellowed at all the students to get back into the common room and not to be out after hours again. She felt helpless and extremely stupid and turned to see James, smirking like a madman and Remus, the threat of a smile on his face.

---

"I need something to really boil her over, throw her over the edge, make her really desperate," James thought aloud, as Sirius continued snogging a sixth year Gryffindor by the name of Lauren Giles in the common room. He glanced at Sirius in disgust. "Can't you save it for later?"

"You heard the boy," Sirius mumbled, a bit out of breath. "We'll continue later." Sirius blew her a kiss as she reluctantly disappeared from their view and James turned to him.

"Well?"

Sirius shrugged. "She boils over every time you annoy her. What more can you do?"

"Any ideas Remus?" James threw a glance in Remus' direction.

Remus looked up from over his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and shrugged in the same way as Sirius. "I think you should leave the poor girl alone. You've done enough."

"No can do," James retorted hastily. "Until she admits defeat."

"Which will be never," Peter muttered under his breath.

"Unless - " James leapt up from his bed as if he sat on a tack. "I've got it!" he said excitedly. He jumped off his bed and fell onto the floor, entangled in his mess of blankets and robes.

"Got what?" Sirius asked. "The picture that you have _no_ chance?"

James merely ignored him and hurried out the door. Sirius, Remus and Peter exchanged worried glances and flew out the door hot on his trail. As soon as they reached the common room they slowed down and casually walked over to a group of sofas, all their eyes trailed on James and what he had planned. The other students in the common room gave curious stares to the Marauders as Sirius just smiled and stared back.

Lily, this time, was sitting at a table with her friends, working on homework. She looked up suspiciously though when the Marauders came thundering down the stairs like a herd of elephants. She caught James' eye, glared, and then turned back to her friends.

"Don't you hate _jerks_?" she asked aloud, emphasizing the words jerks and stealing a quick glance over in James direction. James wasn't dumb, he knew she was referring to him. James waved away this comment and launched into his own, extremely loud conversation.

"Professor McGonagall comes for her monthly evening checks on the first Friday of every month," James said, unusually loud. "I would _hate_ for something to go wrong. Imagine how it would look on the _prefects_." James smirked so that Lily was able to see him perfectly clear and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"James, no," Remus said in horror. "Did you forget that I'm a prefect too?"

"Just a little louder James," Peter whispered. "I'm sure a couple students upstairs haven't heard yet."

"Hmmm," Sirius acted, catching on. He glanced down at his wrist (where a watch would be but wasn't). "It's about time." Everyone watched as Sirius stood up and headed over to the portrait hole, standing in between the doorway where everyone was able to see him and looking over his shoulder down the corridor outside, exaggerating every one of his moves. "No sign of her yet."

"What are you guys doing?" Lily asked, a hint of panic in her voice. She didn't want to mess up anymore with Professor McGonagall. Her reputation was being questioned (or so she thought).

All eyes were on James as he innocently walked over to the fireplace, which was roaring with bright red flames. "It would be a _shame_ if someone _dropped_ this bag of _fireworks_ in _there_. Imagine the _chaos_. Or wait. What if someone levitated these _dungbombs_ over the portrait hole, so that they would explode on the person that walked through next?"

Sirius had moved out of the portrait hole now and was standing in the corridor outside, a smirk apparent on his handsome features as he helped his partner in crime. Lily wondered for a brief moment what was keeping the portrait hole open but did not have much time to dwell on it as she knew what James was insinuating.

Latisha chuckled and Lily rounded on her, glaring at her. Latisha immediately shut up and Lily looked at each one of her friends before turning back to James.

"You wouldn't dare Potter!" Lily hissed angrily. "You would get detentions."

"Oh no, _detentions_," James sang, levitating a couple of dungbombs over the portrait hole and holding the bag of fireworks dangerously in his hand. "You know I don't care what punishments I get. But what about you? What will Professor McGonagall say about you letting it happen?"

"James," Remus said in a warning voice. Lily knew at once that James was not joking. Unless Remus was faking it, and was extremely good at faking it.

Sirius gave an exaggerated gasp, making everyone's head whip towards him, some seemingly amused by the show and enjoying it. "I hear footsteps." He put a hand up to his ear and tilted his head slightly. Immediately, a bunch of girls sighed with longing.

"Potter please! Get rid of the dungbombs and put those fireworks away!" Lily pleaded. She knew very well that he would do it without a second thought.

"Closer," Sirius sang, looking down the corridor.

James smiled innocently at Lily as he dangled the fireworks closer to the fire. Lily had not realized that she had stood up so abruptly that her chair had fell over. She was getting really desperate to stop James at any costs. Imagine what would happen if the dungbombs exploded on McGonagall! What would McGonagall say? How would she react? How could _she_ explain?

"James," Remus warned again. (At least he was the sensible one right now).

James shook the bag and locked eyes with Lily and then diverted his eyes to the dungbombs floating above the portrait hole, making Lily glance over too. Lily could hear faint footsteps outside and wondered if it was really McGonagall, her blood pumping through her ears, or if it was someone else and this was the Marauders' idea of a twisted prank or joke.

"Potter!" Lily had taken a step towards him but James immediately stopped her.

"Na uh uh, Lily dear," he threatened. "Come any closer and I'll drop these in before you can say _Expelliarmus_."

Lily stopped dead in her tracks, torn between the options she had and stuck in the moment.

"Potter, er, James, please stop. I'll uh, do anything! Well um, depends on the anything of course," she added hastily, backing up what she just said.

James raised his eyebrows but did not make any move to back down.

"Hello Professor!" Sirius sang out cheerfully down the corridor. "In for your monthly check already? I hope nothing _smelly's_ going on. We might be in for a _blast_."

Lily quickly looked from Sirius back to James, a tortured and panicked expression on her face, one that James was relishing at the moment as he held the bag tightly in his hands. Both boys were wearing almost identical smirks on their face and it was no doubt that they were partners in crime.

"Black!" the familiar voice of McGonagall barked as she drew nearer. "What are you doing out in the corridor?"

"I'm just, you know, standing around," Sirius answered lamely and flashing one of his charming smiles that Lily had come to hate. "I thought it would be nice to have the portrait hole open for you. Because we're all awaiting your visit."

Lily closed her eyes as panic coursed through her veins. James showed no signs of wavering as he looked at her, his hazel eyes twinkling, waiting for her next move.

"Lily, Lily, Lily, however are we going to explain this?" James teased, shaking the bag. A few red sparks jumped from the bag but James did not flinch.

Sirius turned his head and mouthed "Ever closer," as McGonagall's footsteps echoed louder.

"James, please! Stop them! I'll do anything," Lily begged, becoming incredibly desperate.

"Anything, you say?" James looked off for a second, as if considering it. He then grinned evilly and locked eyes with Lily again. "Go out with me?"

Lily's face screwed up in horror as she thought about it and the consequences. Usually she would answer no without any hesitation or even a care, but this time she really _thought_ about it. Was it really worth it? The wrath of McGonagall or the cockiness of James? His satisfaction of knowing he won. She knew she really couldn't stand James cockiness, and just couldn't bear the thought of giving in or giving him the satisfaction. She gritted her teeth. She wanted to punch somebody, preferably Potter's face.

"Time's ticking," James replied, turning to the fire and taking a step closer. "I can stop it all if you go out with me. Go on Lily."

Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She could feel her friends' stares and knew their shock at her answer.


	6. The Power of Imagination

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

**_Part I _**

**_Thrill of the Chase_**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the famous characters or the world of Harry Potter. I'm _borrowing_ them from JKR's fabulous writing. I just own the characters you've never heard of and the ideas. ;P

A/N: It's been a really long time. Like REALLY long time. I've only found this from the dusty depths of my bedroom and computer and decided, hey, why not? It's summer vacation and I have loads of time to do absolutely nothing. Ummm... The only problem is that I knew I was in the middle of revisions, though now I don't remember what the revisions were, so I'm trying to wing it and write and revise, hoping things will come to me but, it's kind of hard. I'm hoping for the best though. I don't think there was anything done to this chapter... but I could be wrong ;P

**Chapter 6 _The Power of Imagination_**

Recap

----

_"Time's ticking," James replied, turning to the fire and taking a step closer. "I can stop it all if you go out with me. Go on Lily."_

_Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She could feel her friends' stares and their shock at her answer._

---

"No. I won't go out with you Potter." It took Lily a second before her own words hit her and she realized the full force of them.

Maybe now she was doomed. Maybe now she would lose any chances of becoming Head Girl next year. It didn't matter. As long as she didn't give in to Potter. She could hear her friends' gasps. They never thought that she'd ever say no and stand up to Potter at her own expenses. And risk her goals...

McGonagall came striding in and Lily could see Black's face contorted with laughter as he tried to hide his amusement. She closed her eyes as the dungbombs exploded all over McGonagall and McGonagall exploded herself, furious. The horrendous stench settled into the Professor's clothes and coated her skin. It slowly drift about, filling up the room and Lily couldn't help but stop breathing in the foul air for a moment. To top if off, James, true to his word, threw the bag of fireworks into the fire. Lily watched in horror as chaos erupted and sparks of red and gold flew all over the room, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. She ducked as a particularly loud whistling one zipped past her head. She stood up and slowly, reluctantly, trailed her eyes over to where McGonagall was standing and watched in dismay.

McGonagall slowly turned red and glared at Lily, her eyes full of rage. "What is the meaning of this Miss Evans!" she yelled. "How could you let this happen? Have you lost _all_ responsibility!"

Lily closed her eyes again as she silently kissed all her chances of being Head Girl goodbye. When she opened them James was standing there smirking and Sirius was still trying to contain his laughter. Then, to Lily's amazement, McGonagall turned to Remus and started to have a go at him.

"And you, Mr Lupin, could not have exercised a bit of responsibility on your friends either? This is preposterous! I expected better from the prefects of Gryffindor, my own House!" She turned back to Lily. "Miss Evans, if you are still working for the position of Head Girl you must also exercise much more control and responsibility. At this rate, your potential for Head Girl is becoming slimmer by the moment, if being considered at all by past recent events. Please exercise more authority, both of you!"

McGonagall then turned towards James and Sirius. "Mr Potter and Mr Black. Detentions for both of you, although they will probably not make much of a difference."

She then stormed out of the portrait hole, so absorbed in her own rage that she was temporarily unable to smell the stench wafting off of her or the whizzing of dangerous fireworks in the common room. Lily stared after her, incredulous at how easy it was for Potter and Black to get off the hook. It seemed to her as if she got the worst gist of it.

"Well, that check went over fairly well," Sirius commented cheerfully as he glanced around the room at the fireworks. "Nice work James." Lily stared at him as he strode over to James and slapped his back.

Lily then diverted her glares to James, still standing there, completely unaffected by the fact that he might as well have ruined her entire life or even got detentions. His stance was defiant and his smirk was enough to make Lily boil over (again).

"You had your chance Evans."

"You!"

Before Lily could register what had happened she threw herself onto James, and James, unexpecting it, fell to the floor. She found herself pounding her fists against his chest and the distant cheers of _"Fight, fight, fight,"_ from Sirius. Her groping hands soon found their way to James' shoulders and she shook him, banging his head off the floor, trying to release her anger and frustration.

"This is all your fault. You wrecked my chances. You are so, I can't even find the words to describe you! How could you do this?"

Then, Lily would wind her fingers around James' neck and strangle him. His head would grow bigger and bigger from her strangling him and from his huge ego and then he would float away out of the window never to be seen again.

All pictured in Lily's mind and her little fantasies of a James-less world. It was nice to imagine and dream, wasn't it? She only wished that would happen. All in all, it would have ended up very badly still.

Maybe some of the un-fantasized parts would have occurred if Lily said no. _IF_ Lily had the guts to say no. It was what should have happened. But of course, Lily couldn't let her chances or dreams go like that. Even if it meant swallowing her pride for the time being and giving into Potter. He may have won the battle but the war was still on...

The sound of James' swishing robes pulled her out of her fantasy and back to this harsh bit of reality. She blinked, all the past events of the thirty seconds returning to her like a rock in the face. She glared at James and took another breath.

"Fine," Lily said very quietly, so quietly it was barely audible. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I don't have time for these childish games."

"I'm sorry?" James said, a smile so wide it covered most of his face. "I'm sorry Lily Evans, I didn't quite catch that bit."

Sirius had stopped grinning now and was watching intently. Lily could still feel her friends' stares at her answer and she stiffened.

"FINE."

"Fine what?" James asked innocently.

"Fine I'll... you know!"

"No, I don't know," James replied, playing dumb. "Fine what?"

"I won't say it!"

James shook the bag. Lily glared at him stubbornly and he shook the bag again, louder and more carelessly this time.

"Fine what?" he queried impatiently.

"Fine, Potter, if you're so thick headed and dumb I'll say it. Fine, I'll go out with you. But only ONE date!"

James' smile widened as he considered the altered proposition. "Done."

He shoved the fireworks in his robes and flicked his wand. The dungbombs disappeared and the portrait hole swung shut on a surprised Sirius. James' eyes roamed around the common room as he took in everybody's stares.

"What!" James shouted at the audience. "Show's over. Back to whatever it was you were doing!"

Lily couldn't help but marvel at the immediate effect of James' words. The whole common room erupted into the usual chatter and everyone returned to their homework or what they had been doing previously. He would make a good Head Boy... WHAT! Lily shook her head, trying to clear it of the thought. She didn't need any nightmares of that...

The portrait hole swung open moments later and Professor McGonagall and Sirius both entered, Sirius looking extremely sour faced at the actions of being shut out of the common room with an advancing McGonagall down the corridor.

Lily quickly took a seat on the sofa and James quickly sat down beside her, both hoping that they did not look too suspicious and hoping that the drama earlier would go undetected. However, the sight of both the incompatible two sitting beside each other was more than enough to rouse suspicions, as McGonagall clearly displayed as she glanced at them curiously, an eyebrow cocked. She did not say anything about her suspicions however as she took in the room to make sure everything was in order and no one was out of line. There was no trace of the dungbombs floating earlier or that the presence of fireworks were hidden in someone's robes.

She nodded at Lily and James and it was only then that Lily realized she was holding her breath. She wasn't use to feeling so guilty and wondered how James and the Marauders always managed to pull off pranks without giving themselves away. She stole a glance at James, who had grabbed his DADA textbook from the table before McGonagall entered and looking as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened as he gazed intently at the textbook.

She then noticed her friends all staring at her and she averted her gaze to the floor. Noticing how close she was to James, she scooted over a bit, and then realizing she had nothing to do she stood up and strode over to where her friends were sitting, all of whom were still staring at her, mouths gaping and eyes wide.

After about ten minutes of McGonagall strolling about the room and briefly talking to a couple students, she left. Lily let out a sigh of relief and then looked up from her homework that she had been gazing at blankly. Her friends were all still staring at her and she wished that her over exaggerated imagination of the above scene had happened the way she dreamt it would in her mind and that Potter really had floated away out of the window never to be seen again.

Before she could get their comments or questions, or even worse, a word out of James or any of his friends, Lily hastily stood up, gathered her things and practically ran up the stairs to her dorm disappearing from view. Her friends stared at each other, mouths still gaping and eyes wide.

James was grinning so widely now it looked like he had made the cover of Witch Weekly or something. Sirius was sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed and looking a bit peeved. Remus and Peter had conjured up a game of Wizard's chess in hopes to make everything look more casual. Latisha glanced after Lily and then looked back at everyone else at the table, their homework completely forgotten at the time being.

"What the hell just happened?"

---

"I can't believe you - aahhhh, oh Merlin Lily! A date with James Potter!" Jade pretended to swoon and grinned at Lily. "He is pretty cute huh?"

"Oh stop it will you? It's nothing to rejoice over," Lily cried, burying her head in her arms. "I can't believe I gave in to Potter. What is everyone going to say? What will happen to my reputation?"

"You must really want to become Head Girl and not have any of your chances ruined or even tarnished to give in to Potter," Latisha commented. "I thought for sure you were going to say no, that you hated Potter more than that."

"You never know," Ashlynn piped up. "You might enjoy the date." She smiled mischievously and Lily stared at her in disbelief.

"I can't believe you guys!" Lily wailed. "My life is slowly being ruined by a big-headed prat with whom I've got a date with and you guys are sitting here laughing at me!"

"You could always make a no-show," Julie suggested very quietly so that only Lily was able to hear. Lily glanced at her curiously.

"I wonder what he'll do," Jade continued dreamily. She was always the hopeless romantic of the group. "A stroll on a moonlit night along the lake. Oh, a room full of rose petals..."

Lily glared at Jade in disgust and laughed. "He'll probably make me listen to all the good points he has and give me a hundred reasons why I should go out with him."

"He honestly doesn't seem that bad," Ashlynn said thoughtfully.

"You always say that," Julie remarked, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah well, I believe in giving everyone a fair chance. And anyways, from what I've seen of James, he doesn't seem that bad."

"He isn't," Latisha agreed.

"That's because you guys play Quidditch with him and Latisha, you're friends with him."

Latisha shrugged as Jade continued mumbling about how the date could turn out and how romantic it must be to have a date with James Potter or any of the Marauders.

"I'm actually afraid of what Potter could have planned," Lily groaned before turning her attention to her homework. "Is it even worth it?"

---

"You just got a date with Lily Evans!" Sirius sang happily, slapping James on the back. "Nice work Prongs!"

James smiled back, still dazed at the fact that yes, he did get a date with Lily Evans, the one he had been pursuing for so long. Maybe there was a chance after all.

"You could have been a bit more polite," Remus stated, glancing over the top of his book briefly to look at his friends. "That was a sly way to get her to date you James."

James felt a bit hurt at his friend's words, but shrugged them off slightly. "It's not like she's actually dating me," he defended. "It's only one date. And my idea worked, did it not?"

"Don't get defensive," Remus replied. "I'm just saying, I hope it doesn't make her resent you anymore than she does."

James sat down and slowly turned his head, gazing in Remus' direction. "What's that suppose to mean Remus?"

Remus sat down his book and looked at James with the air of someone explaining something simple to a two year old. "You and Lily aren't really on good terms to begin with. You sort of - I don't know - well sort of _forced her_ into a date, didn't you?"

Sirius and Peter had turned their attention onto the scene between James and Remus and were silently hoping and praying that a fight was not brewing between them. Although they were all best friends, James' temper was a bit nasty, and James and Remus did not always see eye to eye on all things. And Remus was the type of person to see issues from all sides. From both sides of the story.

James said nothing to this statement and Peter jumped in suddenly, trying to relieve the tension and change the subject.

"James, do you even have any plans for this date?"

"Oh, I have plans alright."


	7. Stand Up

**TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY**

**_Part I_**

**_Thrill of the Chase_**

Disclaimer: I only WISH that I had some part in Harry Potter, or that I could write so well. But no, all belongs to JK Rowling. I am merely an ordinary girl (well maybe not too ordinary), borrowing her characters, and hoping to unleash some of my imagination that others will enjoy reading :P

A/N: Well, people who are still reading this far...THANKS, I appreciate it. Continue reading, and please please please REVIEW. I hate the new hits counter... it is just torture, knowing that people may be reading your stories and aren't reviewing :( Reviews make writers happy :) This chapter turned out to be quite a bit different from the previous one I posted up and has turned incredibly long. Oops, my bad.

**Chapter 7 _Stand Up_**

Somewhere outside the Hogwarts castle a danger was lurking, growing stronger in strength and numbers, taking innocent lives and shattering others. The darkness was inevitably coming, the light was slowly dimming, hope was being lost. But within the castle, safe behind the gates of Hogwarts, the prospect of what lay ahead was not yet real, the only worry was the eye popping amount of homework that teachers were assigning. And for a certain messy haired boy, it was the worry of an approaching date with a certain redhead.

So maybe James Potter did manage to get a date with Lily Evans. After trying so hard and for so long, didn't he at least deserve just one? He couldn't say it was an easy task, but after many years of pursuing her, it finally seemed to be paying off (if only a bit). He also couldn't say it was an easy task hunting her down to get details or ask for her input on what things she liked to do on dates.

It seemed as if she was everywhere he wasn't. And when he did manage to bump into her, she was always busy and was always gone before he could even open his mouth. He wasn't stupid, he knew she was avoiding him. He was determined to corner her though. His chance came about five days after he asked her out.

It was a blustery gray morning and the wind was a bit chilly. Everything seemed a bit gloomy since the sun was not out and was hiding behind dark looming clouds. Apparently though, people like Lily Evans and her friends liked early morning walks in not so pleasant weather, which was something he came to find out after getting up so early to wait for her to come down.

James had caught a glimpse of Lily's hair from outside and had practically flew out of the common room, leaping down stairs and dodging students. He certainly looked a mess. His tie wasn't on and his school shirt wasn't even buttoned up properly. He stood at the door of the Great Hall, panting, catching his breath and straightening himself up before he casually walked outside, quietly following Lily and maintaining his distance at first. He could hear bits of conversation between her and Ashlynn.

"So what do you think of Hogwarts so far?"

"It's nice." Ashlynn smiled. "Some house rivalry I noticed."

"Any cute guys you've got your eye on?" Lily asked coyly.

Ashlynn made a face. "You know what? I actually haven't really been able to take a good look. I've been busy with homework and trying to settle in. And then there's Quidditch practice with Sirius and then ACTUAL Quidditch practice with the dreaded James. But he's really good you know. I haven't seen anyone play as good as James and Sirius before."

Lily laughed and James wished that he was the one making her laugh, completely unaware of the insult and compliment. He watched as Lily smoothed down her school skirt as the wind threatened to whip it skywards. He suddenly felt nervous at the thought and ran his fingers through his already wild and untidy hair. Only when he stepped over some fallen leaves and made noise was when Lily whipped around and her green eyes fell upon James.

"Potter, what are you doing here?" she hissed.

"Well, I - " James opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly tackled to the ground by his best friend. "Gerroff Sirius."

"Jamesie my boy," Sirius grinned, clapping him on the back, "I've been looking all over the place for you." He noticed the two girls standing before him and flashed them a charming smile any other girl would melt for. "Excuse me ladies." He then lowered his voice and whispered something to James. Lily could not tell James' reaction to whatever it was Sirius was whispering at him, as his face remained indifferent.

"Moony?" James' whispered back, a bit loudly. His face broke out into somewhat of a grin. He then caught Lily's eye and ran his hand through his hair (yet again) which made Lily cringe inside as she continued to coldly glare at James. She hated that gesture, it annoyed the hell out of her. Ashlynn seemed much more interested with the rings on her hand as she fiddled with them. And then as sudden as Sirius had appeared, he had disappeared.

"Well Potter?" Lily asked, her voice harsh. "What are you doing here?"

"Merlin Evans, are you really that dense? What else would I be doing here? Anyways, don't you know that you shouldn't be out wandering with certain...situations and circumstances?" James asked matter-of-factly. So much for being nicer to her.

"It's generally taken that the Hogwarts grounds are safe, but if there are people like you stalking me that I guess I should watch out shouldn't I? How long have you been following me?"

James shrugged, looking nonchalant. "I have to stalk you to talk to you don't I? Seeing as you won't even give me the time of day?"

Lily gave an exasperated sigh. She couldn't avoid him forever. And she did agree to...she shuddered, and it wasn't exactly from the cool of the morning.

"What Potter, what do you want?" she spat.

"About the date - "

"What about it?" Lily cut in, impatient.

"Well, when, where, what, why, how?"

"Usually I would answer never, nowhere, nothing, just because and it's your problem. But seeing as I can't, I don't know, and you proposed the stupid idea of a date so you figure it out by yourself. Then stalk me to try and talk to me again. Goodbye."

She turned around and James couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh himself. He had chased her around and tried so hard to talk to her and she was acting more than unfriendly. He didn't think that she actually hated him. After all, what was there to hate? He _was_ after all, _James Potter_, Quidditch captain, one of the smartest of the year, loved by a huge percentage of the female population... What was there to hate exactly?

"For Merlin's sake Evans, you would think you would be a bit more polite seeing that I am taking the liberty to hear what you would like to do and that I'm willing to take it into consideration," he couldn't disguise the venom in his voice. As much as he was crazy over her...

"What, because you _forced_ me into a date with you and I haven't even dated the giant squid yet? You expect me to cooperate with you? Sure thing Potter. Dream on. Sod off and figure it out yourself."

"Fine." James held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'll make the bloody plans. Meet me at the portrait hole at six o'clock on Friday. Skip dinner at the Great Hall. I'll take care of the rest."

Lily scoffed. "OK Potter." He didn't know if she was being serious or sarcastic. Before he could say anything, she turned back to Ashlynn and continued walking, leaving James nothing to do but to return back to the castle and take his frustration out on something or someone. This whole date thing was going to be harder than he thought.

After James was gone Lily sighed again. "What am I getting myself into?"

"Lily, weren't you a bit mean to James? It was actually nice of him to ask you what you wanted to do. At least he was willing to hear your say." Her eyes clouded over for a moment, but as quick as it came it was gone.

"I don't know what it is with him." There was a moment of silence. "Actually I do. Every time I see him, I feel this uncontrollable anger well up inside me. And then I feel this need to spit and argue with him and put him in his place. I hate how he prances around and pranks and hexes anybody he wants just because he can. He thinks he's so great. And then half the girls are pathetic and fall all over him and the Marauders. All the attention goes to their heads. The Marauders are these _perfect_ guys with their _perfect_ lives and all they have to worry about is not getting caught because everybody loves them so," Lily spit out sarcastically. "And since he forced me into this stupid date, it's his bloody problem and I absolutely refuse to make it any easier for him."

Ashlynn knew her closest friend enough not to argue with her at the moment. It would be useless. When Lily felt so strongly about something, she would not back down.

---

James stormed into the dorm room, slamming the door violently behind him, silently amazed that the door still remained on its hinges. He had held everything in when talking to Lily, willing himself not to explode. And now was the time to let it all out.

Peter was the only one still sleeping. Remus was up and straightening his uniform and digging around for his robes. Sirius was munching on a piece of toast while writing on a piece of parchment, finishing the last bit of his homework. At the sound of James' entrance, Remus had braced himself, ready for a temper tantrum while Sirius cocked an eyebrow in James' direction, interested in the events that would arise. Peter remained under the covers.

"I can't believe how impolite Evans is! The nerve! I ask her for the details of the date, I was even willing to listen to what she had to say! She told me to figure it out myself! I can't even - "

James was at a loss for words and kicked at his trunk at the foot of his bed, sending all his things flying in all directions.

"Oy mate. I'm trying to get some sleep here. Can you keep it down?" Peter finally piped up, apparently still consumed by sleep. When he realized it was James he was talking about, he jumped up as if receiving an electric shock and locked himself in the bathroom, attempting to keep out of the way of James' temper.

James sat down on Peter's now vacant bed and put his head in his hands. Sirius had turned around in his chair so that he was straddling the back, still munching on his piece of toast in which he then devoured in a single bite, looking at James.

"Guess your object of affection isn't as affectionate as you want," Sirius grinned, after swallowing his toast. "And I thought _'You had plans alright'_ for the date?"

"Shut up Sirius. They all seemed so minor then. Merlin! She wouldn't even... fu- "

"Yeah, I know, I heard. I'll be surprised if the whole tower didn't hear."

James sat in silence for a moment and then went over to his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked.

"Making reservations," James answered simply.

"Where?"

"That really fancy restaurant in Hogsmeade. _Chez_." (A/N: I know there isn't such a thing but I'm making it up because I need it. So just _pretend_ there is.)

"That really expensive restaurant? With the stuck up people and the classy dining?" Sirius questioned.

James nodded. "It's nice though. If this is my only chance of getting Lily Evans to change her mind about me, then be it. I'm going to get her to go out with me."

"That place is ridiculous," Sirius continued. "You have to make reservations well ahead of time. And then that's like a binding contract you can't break or something. They keep hounding you to make sure that you'll actually show up. It's crazy."

"That's not the point Sirius. The point is that it's classy and it's nice. It'll give me a chance to show her how much of a gentleman I am. And to get her to change her mind about me."

"_Gentleman_?" Sirius spluttered. He cracked up laughing. "You aren't a _gentleman_! The only person close to a _gentleman_ is Moony!"

"Well we aren't all _dogs_ either," James shot back. Sirius immediately shut up. "Anyways, continuing on. I am determined to act civil and nice to her. Not that I don't anyways. But this might be my only chance. And I'm taking it. Perhaps I should write her a note informing her to dress a bit more formally."

---

"So Lils, what are you going to wear?" Jade asked, laying on her bed and glancing at Lily.

"Wear to what?"

"Your date with James on Friday. He said to dress semi-formal."

Lily shuddered. "Who cares? It's only Potter. I'm not dressing to impress."

"This looks nice." Lily's words went ignored. Ashlynn pulled a cream sweater with a unique collar out of Lily's trunk and smoothed it out with her slim fingers. "And this." She proceeded to pull out a knee length black skirt with a bit of lace around the edges.

"Whatever," Lily muttered. She seemed deep in thought with something else as she brushed her hair in front of her dresser. "It's quiet. Where's everyone else?"

"Latisha's off with some guy and Julie's somewhere," Ashlynn answered. She continued to study the outfit carefully. "It's nice. It's sophisticated, but not overdoing it. You don't know what he has planned, do you?"

Lily shook her head. "Nope. And frankly, I don't care."

"Then you probably didn't think about how he might be sneaking you off grounds eh?"

Lily stopped brushing her hair and set the brush on the dresser. The thought of sneaking off grounds had not even crossed her mind. And now that she thought about it, it absolutely made her feel sick. She looked at Ashlynn through the mirror as though it hadn't affected her. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Ashlynn began tentatively. "He did say to skip dinner in the Great Hall right? So you're obviously eating somewhere else."

"Merlin, he did," Lily remembered, recalling the events with dread and horror. She couldn't possibly sneak off Hogwarts grounds, considering the state that things were in... She couldn't possibly tarnish her reputation or slim the chances of being Head Girl. What if she got caught? What if something bad happened?

"And you had a say in the date, but you didn't say anything, so I guess you're going along with it huh?" Ashlynn continued, trying but failing miserably to suppress a smirk.

"Well, I've actually been thinking." Lily paused, causing her friends to sit forwards a little bit. She had thought over what Julie had said a lot. _'You could always make a no-show.'_

"Thinking about what?" Jade asked, returning Lily from her thoughts.

"Well, I've been thinking about not going."

"What do you mean?" Jade asked shrilly, horrified by the very idea.

"Well, what if I don't show up?" Lily said slowly, choosing her words carefully.

"You're going to stand up James Potter?" Jade asked incredulously.

"Lily, don't do that," Ashlynn said. "It's low. He's putting a lot of effort into this. I know he's not exactly your favourite person, but still. It's wrong."

"And it's James Potter!" Jade wailed.

Lily thought about Ashlynn's words, and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew Ashlynn was right. "OK, OK, I won't." She couldn't help but debate the option though. It would be something new and definitely unheard of. And would maybe deflate his already huge ego a bit. James Potter,_ stood up_...

---

Friday came too slowly for most of the students of Hogwarts as they waited for the weekend, but to Lily it came much too fast. She had no clue what to expect from James or the date, and the feeling of not being in control or not knowing the situation ahead made her stomach queasy. Lily wanted to believe she didn't care about what James had planned but in all honesty, it was all she ever thought about. And the thought of sneaking off grounds made her even more sick. She lay on her dorm bed, thinking hard and feeling nauseous. Not to mention what the gossiping girls would say...

Lily was sitting in the common room, quickly finishing up a Potions essay, hoping to distract her mind from the date. Over in the corner of the room stood a group of girls, whispering loudly and looking at Lily. She was feeling uneasy, being the topic of their conversation. Their voices carried over to her, and she could hear clearly what they were saying.

_"She has a date with Potter."_

_"It's not the first date either."_

_"I heard she's going out with Potter."_

_"James Potter?"_

_"But she hates him!"_

_"Maybe she's starting to like him."_

Lily could feel the blood rushing through her veins. The very nerve of these girls, talking about her right in front of her face, and making no obvious attempts at trying to hide their conversation. And being made out to like him when it was extremely clear that she despised him, was even more than she could take.

_"Hush, I heard she was secretly in love with him."_

"I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH POTTER!"

"OK, OK, you're not in love with Potter!" Jade exclaimed in surrender, startled by Lily's sudden outburst, even though they had not even mentioned the date.

Lily sat up, shaking with rage. It was not until everything came into focus that she realized she was in her dorm room, and the date with Potter was getting to her so much that she had even started _dreaming_ about it.

"You're not in love with Potter Lily, you're not in love with Potter. I get it, I get it."

"Calm down Jade," Latisha said, amused by the situation.

Lily shook her head as if to clear it, and then apologized to her friends for her shouting. She didn't want to wait around in her dorm room with the tension of the date hanging over them like a cloud of fog so she hurried and changed into the outfit Ashlynn had picked out for her. Lily then gathered her books and headed down to the library.

Needless to say, Lily was much deprived of a decent night's sleep for the entire week. She was either doing homework or up late talking with Julie or Ashlynn. _Or sitting and being paranoid about the date with Potter so that she was unable to sleep..._

The weight of work the professors had placed on the sixth years was a heavy load and she could barely stay awake in her classes. She felt exhausted, overworked and drained. Not to mention her prefect duties with Remus. They both divided the work up equally, and since James had stopped making her job a living hell and temporarily stopped the prank competition, things were actually quite peaceful. Draining and tiring, yet peaceful. She spent a couple nights patrolling the corridors for stragglers and rebellious students who felt like sneaking out. And prefect meetings, once a week usually. Words could not describe how much she ached for a decent night's sleep without disturbances. The short moment when she had drifted off and dreamed about Potter was one of the only moments of sleep she was able to get.

Lily headed over to a deserted part of the library and sat down in a carrel. She pulled out her Transfiguration textbook and read over the section they had covered earlier. It was about five o'clock, she had another hour to kill. Willing her eyes to stay awake, she pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing her dreadfully long essay which seemed to go on forever. The sounds of quiet chatter in the library turned to mumbling and the lights slowly lulled her to sleep. She blinked, remembering she had somewhere to be but she couldn't help but to succumb to the sleep that was calling her name.

---

_Meanwhile..._

James Potter stood at the portrait hole, waiting impatiently for Lily. He had managed to remind her earlier of their date and although she just scoffed, he was pretty sure she was going to be there. He checked the time on the mantelpiece. Only five past six. James tapped his foot and then checked his back pocket to make sure that he still had the papers for their reservations.

James watched as the Gryffindors headed out of the portrait hole and silently wished that he told Lily to meet him somewhere where there weren't so many students moving in and out. He felt like an idiot standing there. He then began pacing, glancing over at the clock every so often.

Sirius then clambered down the stairs with Remus and Peter. They headed over to where James was pacing, a stormy look across his face.

"Still waiting?" Sirius queried.

"What's it look like?" James snapped irritably.

"I'm pretty sure she'll show up," Remus comforted before they too disappeared out of the portrait hole.

James stood, staring off into space before he stopped to check his robes for the single red rose he had got for Lily. It sat there, glimmering in the dim lights of the common room. James felt a bit guilty confining such a beautiful thing to the dark of his robes. He was determined to make Lily change her mind about him. James paced around again. Only until it was quarter after did James set off to find Lily, convincing himself that maybe she had genuinely forgot or maybe held up somewhere...

He first stood at the steps of the girls' dormitories, calling her name. After he got no reply he headed down to the Transfiguration classroom, maybe she had gone back for help and McGonagall wouldn't let her leave just yet. James poked his head in the room and his face fell - empty. He then headed outside, maybe she had gone for another walk with one of her friends. He did a few laps around the school grounds and after he was sure that she was not there, he went back in, a defeated slump apparent in his walk.

_'Maybe she's in the library,'_ James thought to himself.

His stride quickened as he headed down the corridor and pushed open the doors into the library. His eyes scanned the tables and rows of books, trying to find the beautiful redhead. He then did a quick run around the library, incase she was sitting at a table or behind a carrel. He stopped in a deserted corner, leaning beside a seemingly empty carrel and crossed his arms, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips. If only he knew who was behind the carrel, sleeping peacefully...

James headed back to the portrait hole. It was now 7:20. He entered the common room with a particularly unhappy look across his face. Anybody who knew James Potter would know that look and would hurry out of his range of sight and out of his path. James' eyes landed on a petite dark haired girl. Ashlynn. She was sitting in front of the fire looking deep in thought as she worked on her homework by herself. She was usually by herself or with (usually Lily) Latisha or Jade. She barely spoke in class. If James hadn't seen her in Quidditch practices he would have thought that she seemed aloof and was a loner. But during practices she was actually smiley and outspoken. Quite contrary to the way she acted during classes.

Sirius was sitting a little bit aways from her with some new girl sitting in his lap. Remus was reading a book and Peter was frantically trying to finish a tiny fraction of his huge pile of homework that had accommodated over the past few days.

"Hey, Ashlynn!" James jogged over to her. He could feel his friends' curious stares and wonderment at how the date with Lily Evans went. If it had went at all. James avoided their eyes and lowered his voice so that only Ashlynn could hear him. He felt like a giant, towering over the petite girl.

"Have you been up in your dorm? Can you see if Lily is there?"

Ashlynn looked at James for a moment, her brows furrowed. It took her a while to answer and then she glanced around the room. "Lily? Shouldn't she be with you?"

"Does it look like she is?" He asked irritably. Sirius glanced up at him.

Ashlynn looked alarmed for a moment at the thought of Lily missing. She hurried up the stairs and practically broke down the door. Julie was in the room with Jade, but Lily was nowhere to be seen. Ashlynn returned to James, her face downcast. She shook her head and James swore under his breath before storming upstairs, all the anger and frustration getting the best of him.

He was glad his friends weren't in the room when he clambered in. He was also glad that they hadn't followed him upstairs. The room was darker than usual and the only light was from a few flickering candles. He threw the single rose he had for Lily onto the cold stone floor and ground it with his heel. The fragile petals of the rose gave way and were soon reduced to nothing but pieces. He wanted to scream and beat up somebody.

After a moment of silence, a dark grey owl rapped on his window and he opened it. The owl swooped in and James angrily ripped the piece of parchment off the owl's leg. The owl gave an indignant hoot and took off.

_Mr Potter,_

_Chez would like to know if you are still going through with your reservations on the night of October 12, 6:30 pm. It would be greatly appreciated if you were prompt in your arrival so the table reserved for you will be in use. As a result in the delay, Chez would like to request your answer in whether or not you would like us to save your reservation._

_All the best wishes in serving you,_

_Chez _

James gave a slight laugh to himself before crumpling the parchment up and throwing it across the room. He kicked at his trunk again, sending all his things flying again. He pushed all his things off his desk and threw his chair upside down. He yanked his invisibility cloak out of the trunk and threw it across the room. The room looked like a royal mess when James was through. James shook his head in frustration and disappointment before throwing himself onto his bed and burying himself deep in his covers as parchments and quills fluttered down to the ground.

"No," he mumbled quietly as an afterthought to the answer of the parchment. "I was _stood up_."

If James wasn't angry enough to observe things clearly, he would have noticed a certain piece of parchment fluttering to the floor and displaying a flurry of movement. It landed beside the broken pieces of the once beautiful rose, contrasting with the bright red of the petals. The partially-finished-still-in-construction Marauder's Map lay on the floor. A tiny dot labeled Lily Evans had hurried out of the library and was rapidly making its way over to Gryffindor tower.


End file.
